





%-.- 





Class. 
Book_ 



Ji£. 



CQEmiGHT DEPOSm 



Civics For 
New Americans 



BY 

MABEL HILL 

INSTRUCTOR IN SOCIAL SCIENCE, DANA HALL SCHOOL 

WELLESLEY, MASS., AND 

ROGERS HALL SCHOOL, LOWELL, MASS. 

AND 

PHILIP DAVIS 

FORMERLY OF THE CIVIC SERVICE HOUSE, BOSTON 
EDITOR IMMIGRATION AND AMERICANIZATION 



'^America is Another Word for Opportunity^^ 



Houghton Mifflin Company 

Boston New York Chicago San Francisco 



3V; 



COPYRIGHT, 1922 

COPYRIGHT, 1915, 
BY MABEL HILL AND PHILIP DAVIS 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 






l.^f 



Illustrations on pages 39, 49, 50, arid 108 are used bij courtesij of 
Messrs. Ginn and Company, publishers of Miss Bill's ^'Lessons for 
Junior Citizens,'' where these photograjohs were originally reproduced 



CAMBRIDGE • MASSACHUSETTS 
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. 



AUG 23 1922 

©Cl./i(i77973 



/U ^ I 



FOREWOED 

The spirit of democracy is finely expressed in the 
everyday "give-and-take" relations between American 
teachers and new Americans, young and old. Reading, 
conversation, discussion, and question and answer very 
naturally result in that free exchange of ideas and ideals 
which is the best guaranty of true assimilation — the 
blending of all that is best in the old and in the new 
world. The democratic idea of education for all new 
Americans demands that their experiences here shall be 
so interpreted in the classroom that they may under- 
stand their environment and adjust themselves to it; 
and that they shall be taught how to take part in the 
activities of the social and political community. 

The authors of Civics for New Americans are fully 
aware of the difficulties which in the past have made 
education for immigrants a real problem. Recent 
studies of social conditions have emphasized the neces- 
sity of explaining the situation to our future citizens, 
now newly arrived from all parts of the world. This 
book, therefore, attempts to set forth the work that 
is going on in many iVmerican cities to better both social 
and political conditions. Thus the newcomers may dis- 
cover not only what is being done for them, but what 
they are expected to do for themselves and for their 
fellows. The book challenges every new American to 
affiliate himself with the constructive element in his 



iv FOREWORD 

new country. The lessons suggest not only how to take 
advantage of the many educational opportunities open 
to him, but how to cooperate in movements and with 
organizations designed to promote better citizenship. 

In language Civics for New Americans is simple 
enough to meet the demands of the average new Ameri- 
can who has fairly mastered the rudiments of the Eng- 
lish language. As to subject-matter, it will at once ap- 
pear that these lessons are intended for mature and 
thoughtful people; they are nevertheless concrete, and 
easily to be understood and interpreted from everyday 
experience. They are so arranged as to lead the student 
on to a broadening conception of American life: they 
begin with duty to home and neighborhood, and con- 
clude with duty to city, state, and nation. Civics for 
New Americans is designed to form a consecutive course 
with the two books of English for Foreigners, by Sara 
R. O'Brien. 

The lessons may be studied in classes whose teachers 
will amplify the text, or they may be read and dis- 
cussed in the home. In either case a good method of 
study is: First, read the text with care in order to gain 
the main thought. Second, re-read the text in connec- 
tion with the questions accompanying each lesson. 
Third, discuss the questions and enlarge upon their 
thought without further reference to the text of the 
lesson itself. This third approach should be guided 
by the teacher. The discussion will not only lead to a 
broad understanding of local conditions, of the oppor- 
tunities offered, and of the cooperation needed, but 



FOREWORD V 

through its informal tone to that conversational com- 
mand of the English language which it is so necessary 
for new Americans to acquire. Written lessons upon 
the topics discussed will assist greatly in developing 
literacy. 

The following answers to a typical question illustrate 
the unusual opportunity for spirited discussion which 
the lessons afford : — 

Question: "What do you think constitutes a good 
citizen.^" 

Answers. These will doubtless include the following 
ideas : — 

"He must be an honest and truthful man." 
"He must stand for law and order and justice." 
"He must take an active interest in the affairs of his 
neighborhood." 

"He must stand for his rights." 
"He must send his children to school." 
"He must be willing to pay taxes." 
"He must investigate what candidates for office are 
fitted for the positions." 

"He must try to cast a wise and honest vote." 
"He must try to change unwise legislation." 
"He must accept the decision of the majority." 
Such an interpretation of the text under the guidance 
of the teacher will give an impetus toward ethical as well 
as toward political and social progress. It is assumed, 
of course, that the teacher will be a well-trained student 
of civics, and vitally interested in the work of com- 
munity service. Preparing for Citizenship and Govern- 



vi FOREWORD 

merit and Politics in the United States, by William B. 
Guitteau, will serve the teacher as authoritative refer- 
ence books; and The Teaching of Civics, in the series 
of Riverside Educational Monographs, will be found 
suggestive, especially when dealing with community 
activities. 

The joint authorship of Civics for New Americans has 
the advantage of combining the point of view both of 
the foreign-born American and of the American teacher 
whose traditions and inheritance are thoroughly es- 
tablished. The experience of the one, in preparing for 
citizenship large groups of immigrants in several cities 
of the United States, and of the other in teaching and 
supervising pupils in normal and practice classes, has 
resulted in the proper appreciation both of what sub- 
jects should be presented and how they should be laid 
before the students. 

It is hoped that this book will be helpful both to the 
teachers of new Americans and to the new Americans 
themselves; and that from intimate study and discus- 
sion of social and political conditions in communities 
into which thousands of immigrants are constantly 
entering, there will develop better standards of living, 
clearer understanding of the opportunities of democ- 
racy, and higher ideals of citizenship. 

Mabel Hill, 
Philip Davis. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter I. Introduction to Our Country 1 

I. A Welcome to Newcomers — II. Learning the Language 

— IIL How to find Work. 

Chapter II. Civic Opportunities ........ 9 

I. Public Schools — II. Special Schools — III. The School 
Department — IV. The Home and School Visitor — V. The 
School as a Neighborhood Center — VL The Public Library 

— VII. Museums — VIII. History of Museums — IX. The 
Gymnasium — X. History of Gymnasiums — XL Public 
Baths — XII. Playgrounds — XIII. The Value of Play- 
grounds — XIV. The Street as a Playground. 

Chapter III. Civic Protection of Life and Property . 3B 
I. The Policeman — II. The Police Department — III. The 
Fire Department — IV. Street Building — V. The Street 
Department — VL Health in the Home — VII. The Health 
Inspector — VIII. The Health Department — IX. Fighting 
Disease — X. Care of the Helpless — XL Public Charities 

— XII. Private Charities. 

Chapter IV. Civic Conveniences 65 

I. The Waterworks — II. The Sewer System — III. Light- 
ing — IV. Rapid Transit — V. Telegraph and Telephone 
Service — VI. Municipal Ownership of Civic Conveniences. 

Chapter V. Community Needs 74 

I. Pure Food — 11. Milk Inspection — III. Housing In- 
spection — IV. Factory Inspection — V. Sweatshops — VI. 
Industrial Protection — VII. Workmen's Compensation — 
VIII. Child Labor Laws — IX. Child Labor — X. The 



viii CONTENTS 

Curfew — XI. Parent-Teacher Associations — XII. Social 
Settlements — XIII. Moving Pictures and Censorship — 
XIV. Self-Governing Clubs — XV. Legal-Aid Societies. 

Chapter VL Civic Improvements 101 

I "Safety First" — n. "Clean-up, Paint-up" — III. Bill- 
boards — IV. The Use of Vacant Lots — V. Better Housing 

— VL Building Cities — VII. City Planning Boards — 
VIII. The City Beautiful. 

Chapter VII. Civil Government 120 

I. Citizenship — II. How to become a Citizen — III. Aliens 

— IV. Immigration — V. The Immigrant and Private Agen- 
cies — VI. The Immigrant in Business — VII. Laws of the 
Land — VIII. The Law of Conscience — IX. The Jury — 
X. The Government of the Nation — XL Political Parties 

— XII. Civil Service — XIII. The Citizen's Opportunity. 

Appendix 149 

I. How to become a Citizen of the United States — II. Prep- 
aration for Citizenship — III. A Club Constitution — IV. 
Form of a Petition — V. A Final Word to New Americans — 
VL Two National Anthems. 



CIYICS FOR NEW AMERICANS 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION TO OUR COUNTRY 
Lesson I— A Welcome to Newcomers 

To you, the sons and daughters of many lands, this 
country gives a royal welcome. You journeyed from 
afar for many days; you doubtless labored for years to 
save enough money for the trip. You bade good-bye 
to those near and dear to you — your relatives, your 
friends, your fellow workers. You may have given up a 
good business or a good position, in order to come to the 
United States; perhaps you sold your home or farm. In 
any case, you made some sacrifice and you may have 
suffered much to reach this country. Because of your 
courage and your faith, and the effort you have made, 
you deserve a cordial welcome. 

This country has had occasion to welcome many 
races. They have come from all parts of the world. At 
the outset of its history the English, the Dutch, the 
French, the Spanish, and the Swedes came in large num- 
bers. The Germans and the Irish soon followed. Next 
came the Jews and the Italians and the French Canadi- 
ans. At present the Slavic and Asiatic races are follow- 
ing the others to these hospitable shores. Although 
our immigration laws grow more and more strict, and 



INTRODUCTION TO OUR COUNTRY 




THE END OF THE VOYAGE 



exclude and deport large numbers of immigrants every 
year, it is true that hundreds of thousands from foreign 
countries are allowed to land annually. Those who are 
admitted must stand the rigid test which the Immi- 
gration Boards of Inquiry apply to every newcomer 
desiring to enter the ports. Those who have thus been 
pronounced as fit to enter the country are generally 
able-bodied people and willing to work. For all such 
persons this country is the land of opportunities. 

The first thing you did after settling in the new home 
was to find work. Next you discovered that there were 
schools, free schools, at your service. You discovered 
also that citizenship was open to you as soon as you 
could qualify through naturalization. Having found 



LEARNING THE LANGUAGE 3 

work and schools and the prospect of citizenship, you 
learned further that there were new rights and new 
duties which go hand in hand with the rights and du- 
ties of citizenship. The privilege of voting is the highest 
gift which the nation offers to the newcomer. It brings 
with it serious obligations. A republican form of gov- 
ernment can never be any better than the citizens who 
elect the representatives. The citizens of this country 
are asked to vote intelligently, to serve their country, 
and to ask nothing from it for which they are not will- 
ing to give full return as good citizens. Learn to take 
pride in this country. Remember that it has welcomed 
you when you entered, a stranger within its gates. 

Lesson II — Learning the Language 

Learning the language is the immigrant's most imme- 
diate need. Without the English language one might as 
well be deaf and dumb. You may know French and 
German, or Russian and Hebrew, yet without the lan- 
guage spoken in the United States you will be helpless. 
You need it as a means of finding your friends when you 
are traveling, and when looking for work. Even though 
the immigrant is spoken to in his own language, he will 
find it so full of English words he will hardly understand 
his own people who have lived in this country for several 
years. All money values are, of course, expressed in 
English, and so are street directions and warnings and 
danger signals. Hundreds of misunderstandings are due 
to the failure to read such signs. 

You not only need to know English in order to find 



4 INTRODUCTION TO OUR COUNTRY 

work, but also to be able to understand your instructions 
after you begin to work. Many jobs will be refused to 
you if you are unable to understand English. The same 
is true of advanced positions and new openings if you 
do not learn to speak good English after you have been 
in the country for some time. You will need the English 
language in case of trouble. To depend even on one's 
own children who have learned to speak English in the 
public schools is not enough. Many misunderstandings 
are due to ignorance of the meaning of words. 

There are two classes of people, the literates, or peo- 
ple who can read in their own language, and the illiter- 




NEWSPAPERS IN MANY LANGUAGES 



ates, who cannot. The man who reads in one language 
will find it easier to acquire another. All languages have 
much in common. The literate immigrant ought to get 
the habit of reading a newspaper daily. If you read the 
news in your own language, buy an English paper and 



LEARNING THE LANGUAGE 5 

compare the same items of news. Very soon you will 
master enough words to use a simple English dictionary. 
You should carry a pocket dictionary with you ahvays. 
Read the signs in the cars and on the street signboards. 
Use your eyes. Also try to think in English. Listen 
carefully to those who are talking around you. Hun- 
dreds of literate immigrants pick up the language in six 
months by trying to talk with others. Go to school as 
often as you can, and as long as the school is open. 
When you cannot go to a day school, attend an evening 
school, if there is one. The evening school is the hope of 
the adult immigrant. There are free evening schools in 
nearly every large city for at least a part of the year. 

Illiterate immigrants are compelled in many States 
to attend public schools either by day or in the evening. 
There are strict laws in almost all the States which 
require such attendance. 

In the smaller cities and towns where there are no 
regular evening schools, classes will often be organized 
by the School Board w^hen a request is made by a group 
of twenty or twenty-five immigrants. It is always pos- 
sible to get private instruction either free or at a small 
cost. 

As soon as the language has become at all familiar to 
the immigrant he should be urged to train his ears and 
eyes constantly, and in the home to practice reading, 
writing, and spelling every day. 



6 INTRODUCTION TO OUR COUNTRY 

Questions 

How long has it taken you to acquire the Enghsh language? 

Do you note how often a word in your own mother tongue is 
almost like a word in the English language? 

Which has helped you more, the drill in the evening school, or 
your talks with English-speaking people? 

Lesson III — How to find Work 

When day after day you began to look for work, you 
realized how important it is to learn the language. You 
may also have realized the urgent need of learning a 
trade. At the outset a newcomer should try to find work 
among his own people at his own trade. This will help 
him to become accustomed to habits and manners in 
the most natural way. And if you have a special trade 
or are a skilled laborer it will pay you to advertise in a 
newspaper published in your own language. Often you 
will find a notice under the heading ''Help Wanted." 
These advertisements are also in the daily papers in 
English. Any friend will be glad to read you these 
papers and explain to you the notice. Especially if you 
are trained, you may at the outset be able to find work 
at once through the aid of newspapers. For example, if 
you can teach French or German, or give violin lessons, 
you may be able to earn your living until you find other 
employment, or to add to your regular wages. 

There are employment agencies, both public and pri- 
vate, which find work for people. Some cities have free 
employment offices. The United States Government 
maintains a department which gives free advice how to 



HOW TO FIND WORK 7 

find work in various parts of the country. In reply to an 
inquiry sent to the Division of Information in the Bu- 
reau of Labor at Washington, D.C., you will be informed 
of different kinds of work, such as work on farms, in 
lumber fields, in factories, or in domestic service. 

There are also various immigrant societies and social 
settlements which have free employment bureaus for 
the benefit of newcomers and others who are looking 
for work. Very often the quickest way to find work is 
by joining the union of a particular trade. Indeed, in 
some instances, a man is unable to get work without a 
union card. The most natural way to get a good job at 
the outset is through your friends or relatives, who are 
always ready to help their friends from across the water. 

Your first job in America will hardly be a lasting occu- 
pation. You will find it wise and indeed necessary to 
take at the start any work that offers itself. In the mean 
time, make an effort to learn a good trade or to find 
steady employment in a business which has promise in 
it. There are industrial schools in many cities which 
teach various trades, and there are business schools. 
There are also continuation schools which teach certain 
trades during working hours. Some business firms main- 
tain schools for the purpose of training the worker for 
gradual promotion. For certain classes of immigrants 
who have worked on farms, better opportunities can be 
found in the country than in the city. It is well for those 
who care for farming to decide soon whether it is not 
better to go into the country. After a year or two, 
it would be hard to change from one kind of work to 



8 INTRODUCTION TO OUR COUNTRY 

another. It is, therefore, best for you to make up your 
mind what you really want to do for your lifework. 
Much depends on your choice, and many things must 
be kept in mind — your age, your strength, your special 
fitness, and your previous experience. 

Never give up even a poor job without immediate 
prospect of finding a better one. Instead, train yourself 
for a better job as fast as you can. Keep your eyes open 
for any opportunity that may arise. America is full of 
opportunities. You may find yours in business or in agri- 
culture or in the factory. Some of the great successes in 
business were made by immigrants who began as ped- 
dlers with packs on their shoulders. The mail-order 
business and the country department stores have greatly 
reduced the chances for such success among immigrants 
to-day. However, those who are trying to make a start 
by peddling their wares may be adding to a little bank 
account which by and by will grow into something worth 
while. The habit of saving little by little every week in 
order that you may have a small fund with which to 
make a start in business for yourself, or to help you in 
sickness or when you are out of work, is of the great- 
est importance to you. Do not neglect this. 

Questions 

What kind of work did you do when you first came to this coun- 
try? 

Did you get the work through an agency or through friends? 

Have you tried to better your job? 

If it has been hard to find a better position, was it because you 
have not known how to better yourself? 



CHAPTER II 

CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 
Lesson I — Public Schools 

Among the first things you will wish to do after reach- 
ing this country will be to learn where you yourself can 
go to school or where you can send your children. 

Every immigrant has heard many stories in the old 
country about the free schools in America; you are eager 
to know more. You discover that in the ward of the city 
where you live there is a school building large enough for 
all the children who live in the neighborhood. You also 
learn that there are free evening schools held in these 
same buildings , where older people who work during the 
day may go and study the same lessons that are taught 
in the free day school. There are other interesting facts 
that you can learn about schools in this country. The 
privileges which are offered by schools that are called 
primary and grammar are many and important. So, 
too, are the privileges of the high schools which are 
attended by an ever-increasing number of young people. 
The children of immigrants unfortunately too often fail 
to attend the high school or even to finish the grammar- 
school course, because they feel they must go to work 
before they reach the upper grades. It is better if pos- 
sible to stay in school until one is graduated, or at least 
to remain there until he has obtained vocational train- 
ing, which will help him get employment afterw^ards. 



10 



CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 




THE GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL ARTS, BOSTON 

A knowledge of cooking, house-keeping, and dress-making is a valuable part of a girl's 
education. These things, and many more, are taught in this school. 



All children must attend school whether they are the 
children of citizens or aliens, and in many States attend- 
ance is compulsory up to fourteen or fifteen years of age. 
In most cities the books and materials, like paper, pen- 
cils, pens, and chalk, are free. The apparatus for experi- 
ments and for indoor and outdoor athletics is also free. 
So, too, are school libraries, museums, exhibits and col- 
lections which are made for the use of the children who 
attend the schools. 

The schoolhouses are arranged to give the pupils the 
best possible seating, lighting, ventilation, and sanita- 
tion. Everywhere throughout the country, whenever a 
new^ school building is planned, the comfort of children is 
the first thought. Moreover, in many cities there are 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS 11 

school physicians who examine children frequently. In 
some schools there are nurses who assist the physician. 

Generally, the immigrant children are better off in 
school than in the tenement homes. Because some im- 
migrant parents do not understand how important an 
education will be to their children in later life, they often 
allow them to stay away from school. Truant or attend- 
ance oflScers are appointed by the city government 
who have charge of finding absent boys and girls and 
bringing them back to the classroom. If the children 
persist in staying away from school, these oJB&cers report 
this to proper authorities. The truant children are then 
sent to special schools where they are under strict su- 
pervision, and where an effort is made to interest them 
in learning a trade. 

Almost all the States of the United States have made 
laws that children under fourteen years of age shall be 
obliged to learn at least how to read and write and spell 
and to work with numbers. 

Questions 

How are the public schools of your city supported? 

Who pay the taxes? 

How do persons who do not pay direct taxes assist in supporting 
the city government? 

If the schools are owned by the city, why should the pupils be 
taught to care for the school property? 

How much does it cost your city to educate a boy or girl if he at- 
tends every grade from the kindergarten through the high school? 

Does it seem worth while in the long run to spend so much money 
on each child? 



12 



CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 



Can you think of boys and girls who do not seem to value this 
gift of money from the city? 

What can you do to help them see that the city is trying to 
give them a judicious education? 

Lesson II — Special Schools 

The high schools fit boys and girls for college, or for 
commercial work, or for industrial life. If you have 
children who cannot spend four years in the high school, 
and who wish to get immediately into trades, there are 




BOYS AT SCHOOL LEARNING HOW TO SET TYPE 

special schools provided for such pupils both during the 
day and in the evening. These are called vocational 
schools, domestic science and industrial schools. 

Of late years continuation schools have been devel- 



SPECIAL SCHOOLS 13 

oped in some of the cities. The courses in such schools 
are planned to meet the individual needs of those who 
are already at work and are hoping to secure better- 
paid positions or to become better housekeepers. At- 
tendance at a continuation school is now compulsory 
in several States. In fact, school laws are growing 
more strict in most communities. A rule that is meet- 
ing with favor in an increasing number of States is that 
all persons from seven to sixteen shall go to school. Il- 
literates, if regularly employed, must attend evening 
schools until they are twenty-one. In many States 
the law compels an employer to procure and keep 
on file a certificate issued by the Superintendent of 
Schools stating the age of each person in his employ 
and his ability or inability to read or write. If the 
employer does not obey this law he may be fined $100. 
The parent or guardian of such a person may be fined 
not more than $20 for keeping such a person from 
going to school. 

Such laws may seem very severe to you who come 
from countries where education is limited to a few. To 
be thus forced, sometimes against your will, to learn to 
read and write and to spend your evenings in a school- 
room may seem hard, but in order to live in a free coun- 
try where one has a right to partake in the government, 
it is very necessary that every citizen should know how 
to express his ideas in writing, and to have a command 
of the language so that he may read books and news- 
papers and speak readily on all topics which relate to 
the government in its many phases. 



14 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

Questions 

Is education compulsory in your State? — At what age? — For 
how many years? 

What is the kindergarten? 

What are elementary schools? 

What is included under secondary schools? 

What special schools are necessary to meet the demands of your 
city? 

Why are continuation schools of such importance in factory 
towns? 

Do you know of any schools where defectives are taught to be 
useful? 

How can the blind, the deaf and dumb, the cripples be made 
useful as well as happy? 

What difference is there between graded schools and ungraded 
schools? 

Why should agriculture be taught in rural districts? 

What group of studies has helped you most in your work so far? 

Which group has given you enjoyment and recreation? 

Lesson III — The School Department 

In every city there is a School Committee or School 
Board who attend to the business of the schools. These 
groups of men and women are usually elected by the 
voters. These boards have charge of the schools. They 
appoint superintendents and teachers and manage the 
money which is necessary in order to run the schools. 
The Superintendent of Schools is most important. 
Either alone or with his assistants he plans the course of 
study and adapts the studies to the needs of the pupils. 
In recent years many new branches of study have been 
added. The superintendent introduces these new^ sub- 



THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



15 




Courtesy, Child Welfare Exhibit and Department of Health, City of New York 
A BOARD OF HEALTH EXAMINATION FOR WORKING PAPERS 

The Board of Health of the City of New York requires that all children between the ages of 
fourteen and sixteen shall have certificates of good health before they can be employed in 
business. Any employer who hires a child without such a certificate is liable to a heavy fine. 
This law is to protect the health of both the worker and the public 



jects very gradually, in order not to disturb the work of 
teachers and pupils; but the new ways of doing things 
and the new subjects to be taught finally find a place in 
every schoolroom. 

The Superintendent visits the schools and watches the 
work of both teachers and pupils. The working papers 
which every boy and girl must file on leaving school have 
to be signed by the Superintendent. He also has the 
care of the registration of foreigners, and sometimes it 
is necessary for him to write to the old country to verify 
the birth of a foreign-born boy or girl. 



16 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

Questions 

Describe the school system in your city. 

How many men and women make up the School Board or School 
Committee? 

How are they chosen? 

Who is the Superintendent? 

What are his duties? 

Have you or your children ever had to consult him? 

Are there assistant superintendents or supervisors in your city? 

Are there special teachers? 

Has your city a Building Committee that is constantly watching 
the school buildings in order to preserve the health of the children? 

Does your city provide school physicians and school nurses? 

Does your school cooperate with the public library? 

Are your school buildings used as community centers? 

Have you a civic league in your school? 

What does it do? 

If you live in a small rural community whose schools need more 
money than the town can appropriate, does the State give aid? 

What do you know about the State Board of Education? 

What is its special work in relation to public schools in cities? Its 
relation to rural schools? 

What is the work of the United States Commissioner of Education 
in Washington? What problems may be solved by the city school 
which confront your children or yourself in coming to America? 

In what ways do parents and the teachers in the schools strive to 
cooperate? 

In your community is there a parent-teacher association? 

If there is no such association, how could you organize one? 

What obligation to the school on their part ought to be taught 
your children? 

Should members of a class be made to feel that they ought to give 
as much as they get in the schoolroom? 

What is meant by school spirit? 



THE SCHOOL AS A NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER 17 

Lesson IV — The Home and School Visitor 

In some cities where the School Board does not ar- 
range for a "home and school visitor," such a person is 
often provided by citizens. Generally a woman is ap- 
pointed to this position. She goes from the school into 
the homes and talks over the school work with parents. 
Fathers and mothers often treat their boys and girls 
very differently after the visitor has shown an interest 
in them. What has occurred at school may be explained 
to the parents by the visitor far better than if the chil- 
dren tried to explain it. Then, too, if children are doing 
particularly good work at school, the visitor will bring 
the welcome news into the home; and if anything has 
gone wrong she will so present the facts that the parents 
will be able to understand the teacher's point of view. 
The object of the home and school visitor is to bring 
about a closer relationship between home and school so 
that the child may derive the greatest benefit. 

Questions 

Have you a home and school visitor in your school community? 
If not, should you like to have one appointed? 
Can you see the value of such a person's work? 
If you have one in your community, can you give instances 
in which she has been of great value in particular homes? 

Lesson V — The School as a Neighborhood Center 

Did you ever visit a school in your neighborhood.? In 
many cities schools are open in the evening as centers 
for recreation and instruction. They are free to all the 



18 



CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 



members of the community for any good use which can be 
made of them. A school used for such purposes is called 
a social or civic center. Here you will find friendship 
and recreation. There are clubs and classes for various 
objects. There are special lectures for parents under 




A STUDY-CLASS IN A COURSE IN CIVICS 

This is a recitation room in a large school 

the auspices of fathers' clubs and mothers' clubs where 
many topics are discussed, such as health and housing 
and other educational subjects. The lectures to mothers 
are of great value to the whole community because they 
teach, possibly for the first time, not only what the 
mother may do in cases of illness, but how they may 
many times prevent sickness in the family. Thus they 
safeguard the home and neighborhood. 



THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 19 

These centers also offer courses of amusements, either 
free or for small fees. These amusements are good for 
both yourself and your children. One object of these 
centers is to give parents and children a substitute for 
street life. If there is no center in your neighborhood, 
draw up a petition for one and present it to the School 
Committee of your city. Many neighborhood centers 
now established in school buildings were brought about 
in this way. Every immigrant parent owes it to his chil- 
dren as well as to himself to do all in his power to keep 
his children off the streets. 

Questions 

Have you a neighborhood center in your community? 
How was it started? 
What has it done for you? 

Has it helped to improve the standard of the neighborhood? 
What can the center do to abolish the cheap dance-hall? 
In what way are the dances in the school center different from 
those in cheap public dance-halls? 

Lesson VI — The Public Library 

You would be surprised to find how many books and 
newspapers in your own language there are in the public 
libraries of this country. The libraries in the largest 
cities often contain books in ten or fifteen different 
tongues, and in the reading-rooms there are hundreds of 
different foreign newspapers. If you do not find books or 
newspapers in your own language in the library of your 
city or town, do not hesitate to ask for them. The 
public library is always willing to buy books or papers 



20 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

which are called for by raany readers. Often an immi- 
grant society presents the library with a set of books 
properly chosen for the benefit of the immigrants in 
the community. Gradually the city buys more foreign 
books in order to make the collection more complete. 
Such collections must, of course, be representative of 
the different branches of literature, as well as of various 
languages. 

Public libraries are useful at night when the working 
people are at leisure. In rainy or stormy weather a li- 
brary properly lighted, heated, and ventilated is a great 
blessing. The larger public libraries have branches in 
various parts of the city, often with attractive reading- 
rooms which seat a hundred or more readers. There are 
also small private libraries and free reading-rooms main- 
tained for special purposes or for special groups of 
people. Social settlements and neighborhood centers 
generally have these. 

The circulating department of the public libraries 
enables you to take out one, two, or more books, gener- 
ally for two weeks at a time. In almost all libraries the 
reader files his name with the librarian. A card is then 
given to him on which the library number of each book 
borrowed is recorded. The reader is held responsible if 
a book is injured or lost. Traveling libraries planned 
for moving from place to place in wagons or automo- 
biles are especially useful and popular wherever they 
have been tried. Traveling libraries of foreign books 
are now organized in many cities. They are often used 
in camps of laborers. 



THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 



21 



The librarian is a very important public servant. He 
is often a spiritual guide in the real sense of the word. 
The librarian ought to know well the books he is advis- 
ing you to read ; and he usually does. He generally takes 
a very real interest in your particular educational pur- 




THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE CITY OF BOSTON 

*' Built by the people, and dedicated to the advancement of learning." The use of this library- 
is free to all 



suits and sometimes even helps you with your lessons. 
The librarian in the children's reading-room is most 
helpful in choosing the right books for all kinds of chil- 
dren. Oftentimes you do not know what books to choose 
to help you with an article which you wish to write or a 
debate in which you are to take part. No matter what 
the situation the librarian is ready to assist you. 
The ideal librarian makes the library a neighborhood 



22 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

center, through which local industries are interpreted 
and local improvements furthered. He will help to make 
the library a home for a camera club, or a debating club, 
or a study circle. He often goes further and arranges 
public lectures on topics of interest to the neighborhood, 
or he will even find material for an international song- 
fest, or a pageant, thus promoting patriotism and love 
of country. 

Questions 

To whom do the books of the library belong? 

Why should great care be taken to record every book lent from 
the shelves? 

Suppose these books were your own, how would you expect peo- 
ple to use them? 

If a man dies leaving a large collection of books, would it not be 
well for his heirs to lend or give them to the city instead of selling 
them in second-hand bookstores? 

How can you aid the librarian? 

Why should librarians need to have the help of those who read 
the books? 

How much do you use the reading-room in the public library? 

Do you try to have your children read books and use the reading- 
room? 

Lesson VII — Museums 

Is there a museum in your city? Did you ever visit 
a museum? It must be a great pleasure to you to find 
in a museum in this country your favorite subjects in 
painting and sculpture. In many American museums 
you will find copies of the masterpieces of painting or 
sculpture which have been dear to you from childhood. 



MUSEUMS 



23 




SCHOOL CHILDREN STUDYING A MASTERPIECE OF PAINTING 

When you find the works of Phidias and Michael An- 
gelo, you will tell your friends and neighbors about the 
museum, and they too will go and visit its many rooms 
in order to see what beautiful paintings and statues 
have been brought from the old countries across the 
seas. There are also many fine works by Americans. 

The person in charge of the museum is called a cura- 
tor. He is chosen because he knows all about the exhib- 
its in the museum and he is ready to explain to visitors 
what they wish to learn. Most curators will guide you 
through the museum, and many of them enjoy telling 
you about the things in which you are very much inter- 
ested. The curator is a valuable friend to those persons 
who during the long winter season enjoy frequent visits 



£4 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

to the museum. On a stormy Sunday afternoon the cura- 
tor makes a deHghtf ul travehng companion, taking you 
on a visit to Egypt or Japan or Greece or wherever 
your interests He. 

Questions 

Do you remember visiting art museums in the old country? 

Compare the museums you have seen in the United States with 
those in Europe. 

Do you enjoy collecting relics? 

Have you brought any exhibits from the old country, any pieces 
of home-made crafts or specimens of copper or brass? 

Lesson VIII — History of Museums 

In early times the museum meant a temple of the 
muses, or the goddesses who in Greek and Latin mythol- 
ogy presided over song, poetry, and the arts and sci- 
ences. Thus it came to mean a place of study. In 
America museums are homes for beautiful relics and 
for collections of painting and sculpture. There are 
fine art galleries connected with the museums of most 
great cities. And sometimes there are schools connected 
with the museums where persons may study art. For 
workers in certain industries, certain rooms in the 
museums have much interest. Often a designer may 
catch a new idea by visiting a museum and noting some 
special exhibit which appeals to his craftsmanship. 

The Semitic and Germanic Museums of Harvard 
University attract the races whose nations have given 
these exhibits to the University. There is a labor mu- 
seum in Chicago at the famous Hull House Settlement 



THE GYMNASIUM 25 

which has appealed to the industrial workers by reviving 
the arts of the Old World. Sometimes immigrant boys, 
who, being younger, naturally become more American 
than their parents in the same length of time, often 
thoughtlessly lose respect for them, for the time being. 
Suddenly, in a place like the labor museum, the boy dis- 
covers that his parents can do things with their hands 
which he would himself be glad to do if he could. Teach- 
ers take their classes to museums in order to illustrate 
the subjects that they are studying at school. Without 
such scientific and historic collections it is almost im- 
possible to teach the children intelligently. Your child, 
born abroad, perhaps far inland, may never have seen 
the ocean except as he crossed it with you in his infancy; 
or another child, unacquainted with specimens of inland 
birds and flowers, may be at a loss to understand our 
American zoology and botany without the aid of speci- 
mens exhibited in the museums. 

Questions 

Explain the reason for the usual signs in the museum, "Do Not 
Handle." 

Are you encouraging your children and your friends to visit 
museums? 

Have you ever helped to get up an exhibit of foreign products 
for any museum as a ceremonial exhibit of the arts and crafts of 
northern Italy, or Syrian pottery, or lace work? 

Lesson IX — The Gymnasium 

In nearly every city in America there are pubHc or 
private gymnasiums. In Germany a gymnasium means 



26 



CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 



a high school or an academy; in this country it means a 
physical training school which undertakes to develop 
the body and to perfect the human organism. There are 
trained instructors for this important work. They can 
be as useful as teachers or any other public agents. You 
will do well to know the athletic instructor of a gymna- 
sium personally. He will often keep you from quack 




A GROUP OF YOUNG WOMEN AT GYMNASTIC EXERCISE 

physicians and unnecessary if not harmful patent medi- 
cines. The advice of the athletic instructor will be most 
useful to you for correcting certain physical habits that 
you have acquired while working at your trade or in your 
business. The instructor will put you through certain 
exercises to develop the unused muscles, not called into 
play by your daily occupation. He can also tell you how 
to reduce your weight or to gain weight, whichever 
you should do to become normal. Go to him w4th your 



THE GYMNASIUM 27 

physical troubles just as you would go to a doctor. You 
will find him a friend and benefactor. 

The public gymnasium, managed by the city, is par- 
ticularly important to new Americans. The immigrants 
who have come directly to city life from farms in Europe 
feel the difference after a few years. American city and 
factory life have dangers which must be guarded against. 
There are dangerous diseases which develop in crowded 
districts. More attention to health, therefore, is neces- 
sary in the United States than in the old countries 
abroad. The gymnasium is intended to help you keep 
well. If the gymnasium were as well known and appre- 
ciated by the newcomers as the schools are appreciated, 
many physical troubles would be mastered as easily as 
the language and the customs of our country. 

Questions 

Do you attend a gymnasium? Why? 

Describe your gymnasium. 

Do you try to teach the younger boys in the gymnasium to care 
for the apparatus? 

Do you have any share in the payment of the cost of the gymna- 
sium? 

Compare the cost of a textbook and of a punching-bag. 

Suppose you break a bucking-horse, what ought you to do at 
once? 

Have you noticed any bad effects upon your body from your 
daily work? 

Have you learned to overcome these by exercise? 

Mention some substitutes for a gymnasium if there is none m 
your community. 

How can you have a gymnasium in your own yard or basement? 



28 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

If you have no place for a gymnasium, what exercises are good 
for you? 

Why is walking the best exercise? 

Would it not be better for you, as well as cheaper, to walk to your 
shop instead of riding in the street car? 

Lesson X — History of Gymnasiums 

Centuries ago the Hebrews, the Greeks, and the Ro- 
mans discovered that there can be no sound mind except 
in a sound body. Each race and nation, therefore, in its 
own manner developed and fostered physical education, 
side by side with mental and moral education. This was 
done through games, races, field sports, and athletic 
contests famous in history. Thus even in early times 
athletic instructors were employed to train the youths 
-for the great national sports. 

During the Middle Ages this ideal of a perfect human 
iDody was partially lost. In many instances the body 
was treated with contempt, and physical self-torture 
was considered by some the most satisfactory method 
by which to ennoble the mind. The modern era,howeverp 
has recovered the classic idea of a perfect human form. 
During the nineteenth century there spread all over 
Europe and America the belief in physical training. The 
famous Swedish exercises were introduced in the schools 
and the Marathon races and Olympic Games were es- 
tablished as public contests. Very recently international 
folk-dances have become popular. American children, 
even on typical American holidays, are paying beautiful 
tributes to the European nations for having taught us 
to honor the body. 



PUBLIC BATHS 



29 



Questions 

What race or nationality won special distinction in the last 
Olympic Games? 

What games or sports in your own country are similar to those 
you have attended in the United States? 

Why is baseball considered the American national game? 

What are the national games of other countries? 



Lesson XI — Public Baths 

The ideal gymnasium includes opportunities for 
bathing and swimming. 
The new American will 
also find separate bath- 
houses in most cities 
which offer all kinds of 
bathing facilities. Such 
public bathhouses are 
generally maintained by 
the city. The charges are 
generally one cent each 
for the bath, a towel, and 
a piece of soap. This en- 
titles a person to a sepa- 
rate booth for undressing 
and it often includes a 
showier bath. You may 
usually have the use of 
the bath from ten to cour^e.^/, rr.nY?, / 

twenty minutes. a swimming pool 

In the most modern swimming is splendid exercise for lungs and muscles 




30 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

bathhouses there are swimming-pools and a room for 
a steam bath as well as tubs and shower baths; where 
the gymnasium or bath includes a swimming-pool there 
is a swimming instructor on hand. These baths are open 
all the year round. 

In the summer you will also find the outdoor baths on 
the seacoast and on lake shores. They often accommo- 
date thousands of people at one time. Here you can 
hire a bathing-suit for a small sum. Swimming instruc- 
tors are on hand to teach you how to swim and life 
guards go up and down the bay or shore to prevent 
drowning. These summer bath-places often have swim- 
ming contests which are witnessed by a great many 
people. 

A private bathroom in one's own home means much 
more to the whole family than a public bathhouse, no 
matter how well equipped it may be. Unfortunately the 
bathroom in tenements is often located in a dark room 
off the hall and becomes too public. In such cases the 
room is liable to degenerate into a storehouse, especially 
in the winter when room for coal is in demand. Such 
conditions should be overcome at once. 

Questions 

What are the immediate benefits from a bath? 

Is there a bathroom in your tenement? 

Is it intended for more than one family? 

Why should every one know how to swim? 

Why are swimming contests of benefit as well as of interest? 



PLAYGROUNDS 



31 



Lesson XII — Playgrounds 

How far do you live from a playground? How near a 
saloon? Which do you prefer to teach your child to fre- 
quent? If a playground is good for your child, is it not 
also good for you? 

There are playgrounds, parks, and play-fields in 
nearly every city of the United States. They certainly 




A PAGEANT OX A CITY PLAYGROUXD 

ought to be used more. If there is any particular reason 
why you do not frequent the playground more often, 
either because you do not feel safe there, or because of 
poor equipment, or from any other cause, the playground 
officials will be glad to have you report the matter. 
Suppose there is no playground in your neighborhood, 



32 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

what can you do? You can draw up a petition for a 
playground and present it to the city government. This 
will, perhaps, mean that the citizens for a time will have 
to pay larger taxes. If you can convince the city fathers 
that you are entitled to a playground, you may get one, 
provided you do not get discouraged too soon. A play- 
ground in the heart of a city, where land costs so much, 
is a great luxury. It would be a waste of land and money 
unless it were used constantly by a great many people. 
Playgrounds serve their purposes best when they are 
most used. They can be used for many things, — for play 
and rest, for outdoor and indoor games and all kinds of 
sports, for picnics, festivals, and pageants. The play- 
ground is especially intended for all of you who live in 
crowded tenements and work in factories and shops. 
The harder you work the more important it is for you to 
play, to overcome the effects of your daily labor and 
often to forget it. If the hours are long you must en- 
deavor to cooperate with every one in your trade to 
shorten the hours of work in order that you may have 
time for wholesome play. Do not be ashamed to play 
the games common to your country and to your people. 
True Americans are becoming more and more interested 
in all such games, and are often glad when they, too, can 
take part. The same is true of your folk-songs and 
your folk-dances. Many of them are so beautiful that 
they are being copied and learned in this country. In 
any case the right playground will afford you the oppor- 
tunity to rest, of which as a wage-earner you are in 
special need. 



THE VALUE OF PLAYGROUNDS 

Questions 



33 



Which is better, to spend money to organize playgrounds where 
your boys and girls will enjoy healthful sport, or to let young 
people develop bad habits which they acquire in back alleys and 
on city streets, and which may, in the end, mean that they must 
be supported as inmates of some penal institution? 

Is your town or city in need of playgrounds? 

Lesson XIII — The Value of Playgrounds 

The playground is most important for your children. 
For people who live in the city it takes the place of the 
fields and woods and farmyards of the old countries 
from which you 
have come. Chil- 
dren are always 
planning to do 
something. If they 
cannot play, they 
must do something 
else. They are cer- 
tainly safer on the 
playground than 
on the street. In 
the United States 
playgrounds have been established in almost all cities 
purposely to get the children off the streets. On the 
streets children come in contact with persons who may 
be stealing or destroying property. They see drunken- 
ness. They may without realizing it do wrong them- 
selves. If they spend their time at a playground they 




AT PLAY IN THE STREET 

Would it not be better to send these children to a playground ? 



34 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

are constantly under supervision, and in many instances 
they get habits of industry, for lessons as well as games 
and sports are taught on the playground. 

It is especially true that we need parks and play- 
grounds for the immigrant girls, your sisters and daugh- 
ters who ought to be taught to conserve their strength 
for the noble uses intended by nature. Fresh air and 
sunshine have a marked influence on the health and out- 
look of young girls. It is not at all unladylike for girls of 
sixteen and eighteen to enjoy the games of the play- 
ground. Immigrant parents are sensible in their efforts 
to protect their girls, but this ought not to be carried so 
far as to shut them up in their homes. You must allow 
them to spend much time out of doors, but in places of 
absolute safety. The playground is the safest place for 
outdoor recreation. A very wise friend of the immigrant 
girl has said, ''Amusement is stronger than vice and 
alone can stifle it." Much vice is merely a love for 
pleasure gone wrong. You must therefore provide the 
pleasure under right and proper influences. 

Some playgrounds are very small and bare, just 
enough for school children to run about in, during the 
recess, or for mothers with their babies to enjoy as a 
resting-place, where they can breathe fresh air. Others 
are regular fields or outdoor gymnasiums or recreation 
parks. 

A playground is generally equipped with swings, see- 
saws, and sand-boxes for the little ones, and with a run- 
ning-track, a baseball diamond, and basket-ball courts 
for the older children. There are also benches and grass 



THE VALUE OF PLAYGROUNDS 35 

plots. Often a clubhouse is open at night for the grown- 
up people. 

Most playgrounds are in charge of a play teacher 
at least part of the day and for certain seasons of the 
year. The play teacher is like the athletic instructor. 




A WELL-EQUIPPED PLAYGROUND 

Notice the swings and slides provided for the children 

His main duty is to encourage play and the use of the 
playground for as many different purposes by as many 
people as possible. He knows what to do in case of 
accident. He supervises the games. He looks after the 
apparatus. He is a teacher in the best sense of the 
word. He teaches you not out of a book, but from 
the Book of Life as lived in the open and in cooperation 



36 CIVIC OPPORTUNITIES 

with others. The ideal playground supervisor is one 

who teaches you how to get along with others and how 

to play fair. 

Questions 

Do girls play games in the old countries? 

Are any of those games played in this country? 

Are any American games played in the old country, having been 
introduced by those who have returned after living in this country? 

What special protection is given the girls of your neighborhood 
on your own playground? 

If a playground is too far away from the homes of little children, 
what should be done in order to protect the street and alley where 
the children play? 

What streets and alleys ought never to be used by children at 
all? 

Why is it important that both schools and playgrounds should 
be as far away as possible from saloons and pool-rooms? 

As your city grew, in what ways did young people suffer from 
lack of play space? 

Did this result in the establishment of a playground? 

Is your playground well equipped? 

When and how was your playground established? 

Were there any places for recreation before this playground was 
furnished by the city? 

If no recreation space has been provided by the city, how can 
individual people help support a movement for play opportunities? 

Lesson XIV — The Street as a Playground 

At the present time some cities have not yet provided 
desirable playgrounds. Again, the playground may be 
too far from a certain district where many children live, 
or it may not be available for old people or for business 
men and women who cannot take the time or strength 



THE STREET AS A PLAYGROUND 



37 



to go to a public recreation center. iVll such people have 
to use the streets for rest and play purposes. It is, there- 
fore, necessary that the streets be kept as clean as pos- 
sible. You can do much for the city to help keep some 
special street clean 







for recreation pur- 
poses, and you can 
do even more than 
the city can do in 
making it a quiet 
street where peo- 
ple may sit and 
rest. Sweep your 
sidewalks before 
the street is swept 
and not after- 
wards. Wash your 
curbstones more 

often. Place seats in the yard, or on clean doorsteps if 
you have no yard. If you are building a tenement house, 
remember the necessity of a porch or a balcony, or at 
least a wide entrance where seats may be placed. 

Questions 

Why should old people be considered in connection with rest and 
recreation? 

Why are immigrant old people always happy in living out of 
doors? 

What have you already done in your homes to get out-of-door hfe 
even if the tenement house is crowded? 



A BREATHING SPACE IX THE CITY 



CHAPTER III 



CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 



Lesson I — The Policeman 

On first arriving in this country, did you have an ad- 
dress of a friend or relative to whom you could go? Did 
you show it to the police officer? He knows all the 
streets of the city, and he also knows the lodging-houses. 

He is acquainted with 
the shops and factories 
of the neighborhood. He 
is glad to answer ques- 
tions. 

Never be afraid to ask 
a police officer when you 
wish to find out anything. 
There are many things 
you may wish to know: 
how to get to an employ- 
ment bureau; how to find 
the City Hall; how to 
find the Immigration So- 
ciety; how to find the 
neighborhood centers; how to find a night school; how 
to find a reading-room; how to get the right doctor. 

The policeman will tell you about these things and 
answer many other questions. A policeman in this coun- 
try is not like the policeman in European countries. 




POLICEMEN GUARDING THE BAGGAGE 
OF IMMIGRANTS 



THE POLICEMAN 



39 



With us in the United States, the poHceman is supposed 
to be, first of all, a friend and servant of the people 
instead of a soldier on guard. He is often called the 
''guardian of the peace." He is ready to give infor- 
mation to strangers, especially to those who have but 
xecently come from foreign lands. He cares for little 
children who have strayed from home. Immigrant chil- 
dren often get lost in our streets, because they have not 
learned much about the life of the crowded cities. 

You often see the policeman helping women and chil- 
dren across the street. He stops runaway horses. When 
he holds up his 
hand, automobiles 
must come to a 
stop, and so too 
must all moving 
trafiic. In many 
ways he protects 
people on the 
streets, both on the 
crossings and on 
the sidewalks. 

The policeman 
is called a ''pa- 
trolman," because he patrols certain streets called his 
"beat." His beat often covers an area or district in 
which there are as many as a thousand people. He 
must ever be on the alert by day and by night. If you 
own a store or shop, it is the duty of the patrolman to 
make sure that you have locked the door and that all 




A MOUNTED P(3LICP:MAX 

His station is usually in a crowded street, or in a parkway 



40 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

is safe within for the night. If he sees suspicious char- 
acters he follows them carefully. He also guards your 
house or tenement against burglars or beggars. 

In America children are looked after on the streets, in 
the parks, and in the theaters. In all such places there 
are policemen to maintain order, to deal with the dis- 
orderly, and to suppress profanity, fighting, and other 
lawlessness. It is surprising how many things the police- 
man has to keep in mind every day and night, especially 
during theater hours when the streets are filled with 
people and the saloons are gayly lighted. 

Every city has special police regulations concerning 
saloons and pool-rooms. The police oflScer has to enforce 
these rules. Often because he is a kindly man, as well as 
an ofiicial, he overlooks the first offense, if it is not too 
serious, but he bears in mind the face and character of 
the person who has committed the misdemeanor. The 
second offense almost always brings punishment to a 
person. The police ofiicer is then obliged by law to place 
the offender under arrest. He takes the offender to the 
police station where he must await trial before a court 
of justice. A criminal record often counts against a per- 
son in more ways than one. 

In every city there are laws called ordinances which 
have to be obeyed. These city ordinances have been 
made by the ''City Fathers," or the governing council 
of the city, in order that every one may enjoy peace and 
prosperity. It is the special duty of the police depart- 
ment to see that these ordinances are obeyed. 

It is highly important that the newcomer should 



THE POLICEMAN 41 

thoroughly understand the functions of the poHce offi- 
cer. He is your friend unless you prove an enemy to the 
city. He has been appointed by the police department 
to keep the peace and to befriend every one as far as 
possible. If you need help and he seems willing to assist 
you, give him your confidence. Tell him your troubles. 
Remember that there are laws which govern the police- 
man and that there are laws which govern you. The 
policeman is trying to interpret these laws to you. For 
instance, we have a ''right to assemble" in the United 
States; but city ordinances have rules against ''congre- 
gating" or "collecting a crowd" or "blocking the side- 
walks." You can hire a hall for an assembly or gather 
your crowd together in an open park without breaking 
a city ordinance. But collecting a crowd in a street or 
alley, or where it would interfere with the convenience 
or peace of others, is against the law, and the police must 
scatter such a crowd. Try to understand the police- 
man's duty. Whenever necessary, answer all his ques- 
tions truthfully and exactly. Notify the police of all 
emergencies such as cases of fire, accidents, or suicides. 
Possible dangers from any kind of disturbances should 
be reported to him at once. 

There are law^s w^hich compel citizens to aid police 
officers in times of emergency. For instance, if a desper- 
ate character is fighting with a policeman, citizens are 
expected to aid the policeman when called upon. You 
should remember that the policeman's work is difficult 
and often dangerous. You should help him maintain 
law and order in every possible way. 



42 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

Questions 

How do newcomers recogcize a policeman v:hen they see 
him? 

When a poHceman is off duty and dressed in citizen's clothes, has 
he still the authority of a patrolman? 

If a policeman sees a person who looks suspicious, does he arrest 
him at once? 

What steps does a policeman take after he has captured a thief 
or some one who has committed a misdemeanor or crime? 

When does a policeman have to serve a warrant before he arrests 
a man? 

When does he use a summons? 

Do you try to teach the children of your neighborhood to respect 
the police officer? 

Why should there be a friendly cooperation between the citizens 
and the police? 

Has the police in your neighborhood served you in any important 
way? 

In what indirect ways are they serving you all the time? 

Lesson 11 — The Police Department 

The police department is presided over by a board 
of persons who are appointed generally by the Mayor, 
often with the approval of the Board of Aldermen or 
City Council. This police board appoints the entire po- 
lice staff, from the patrolman up to the superintendent. 
In most cities, every candidate must first pass a civil 
service examination. The requirements of a police officer 
a re as follows : — 

He must be a citizen ; he must not be less than a cer- 
tain height; he must have at least the elements of a 
grammar-school education; he must have habits of so- 



THE POLICE DEPARTMENT 48 

briety and industry; he must avoid intoxicating liquors; 
and he must have no criminal record whatever. 

In country towns the patrolmen are called ''con- 
stables"; their authority is similar to that of the police- 
men in the city. In the division of the State called the 
''county/' the chief police officer is the sheriff. In the 
pursuit of criminals the sheriff frequently calls upon 
citizens for help, and the group thus acting under him 
is known as a "posse." 

Every State has its own militia. In times of distress 
or local disturbance, the militia, which is also called the 
"national guard," is used to maintain public order. All 
citizens are expected to give their support to the na- 
tional guard. Membership in it is open to all citizens of 
suitable physical make-up; and the military experience 
thus to be gained is a valuable training. 

Special police are often appointed for holidays when 
more people are gathered together on the streets, or 
when circuses or parades draw the crowds. Big fires, 
explosions, earthquakes, or floods always call for special 
police added to the general force. The State itself some- 
times sends out state police and even the militia, espe- 
cially in cases of riot and strikes. In all strikes the 
policemen must be fair to both sides. On election days, 
when political excitement becomes very acute, police- 
men must not take sides, but must strictly maintain 
order. 

Questions 

Should a district made up of foreign population have a policeman 
of its own nationality.^ 



44 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 



Discuss why at times this would prove helpful and at other times 
prove inconvenient? 

Why is it important that a policeman be a citizen and never an 
alien? 

Lesson III — The Fire Department 

One does not have to be told that a fireman is a hero. 
You can see that every time you go to a fire and watch 
the great smoke rolling up into the sky and see the red 

glare of fire. Per- 
haps you have 
heard the shrill 
cry of some child 
in the upper story 
of a great tene- 
ment house. Your 
heart jumps with 
excitement, as the 
fireman, with a 
rope over his arm, 
runs up the lad- 
der and disappears 
through a window. Yes, you feel sure he is a hero.. 
Day in and day out you live in your houses and tene- 
ments with seldom a thought or fear of fire. Even when 
you hear a fire bell ringing, unless you think it is near 
your home you soon forget all about it. It is brave and 
noble to be a fireman or to help in the case of a fire, but 
let us consider how we can prevent fires altogether. Why 
should we endanger property, and the lives not only of 
firemen, but of men, women, and little children.^ Citi- 




AN EMERGENCY WAGON OF THE FIRE 
DEPARTMENT 



THE FIRE DEPARTMENT 



45 



zens can help the fire department even more than they 
can help the police authorities. The old adage that "an 
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is worth 
thinking about in connection with fires. 

Do not use matches carelessly; that is, do not light a 
match and throw 
it down before it 
has gone out. Do 
not throw away 
lighted cigarettes, 
or place a lighted 
pipe where it may 
start a fire. Do 
not light a fire in 
a stove with the 
use of kerosene. Be 
careful with the 
gas stove and all 
kitchen fires. Do 
not overlook the 
strong odor from 
escaping gas, but 
do not search for 
a leak of gas with 
a light. Do not 

Photogj^aph by Underwood and Underwood 

build bonfires or a fire-escape drill 

brush-fires care- Leam the location of the lire escapes on your building, and 

how to use them 

lessly : always 

watch them until they are wholly out. In some cities 

bonfires are prohibited. 




46 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 




A FIRE ALARM BOX — CLOSED 

Turn the handle to the right, open the door, 
a,ndpull down the hook 




A FIRE ALARM BOX — OPEN 
An alarm will not be rung unless you pull the hook 



In crowded tenements, it 
is necessary to have rules 
guarding against the possi- 
bihty of fire. These are often 
printed and placed on the 
doors of tenements. They 
are quite likely to include 
such directions as these : — 

1. Keep halls, stairways, 
and aisles to exits and fire 
escapes free of obstructions. 

2. Keep premises clean 
and free of rubbish. 

3. Put ashes and oily or 
greasy materials in metal 

receptacles with 
metal covers. 

Other rules re- 
fer to the fire es- 
capes. They tell 
you how to use a 
fire escape or ap- 
paratus, such as 
coils of rope, to 
be used at the 
time of fire. They 
explain the use of 
the fire alarm and 
the alarm box. 
Everyone should 



STREET BUILDING 47 

know the number of the fire alarm box nearest his 
home, and its exact location. When a fire is disco v- 
ered, the alarm should be rung as soon as possible. 
The person who goes to the box to do this should wait 
there, if he can, to direct the apparatus to the fire. 

Questions 

Why should you not put hot ashes in a wooden box in the cellar? 

What would you do if you smelled smoke in your tenement? 

In case a fire begins to spread in the tenement, what can you do 
to keep from being smothered? 

Do you know just how to put out a small fire? 

What advice have you given the women and children in your 
home to follow in case of a fire? 

If there is a fire in a theater or moving-picture show where you 
are, what care should you take as you make your way to the nearest 
exit? 

Why is there such a campaign against firecrackers, fireworks, and 
toy pistols? 

Lesson IV — Street Building 

As you come and go to your work every day, you have 
probably noticed that the streets through which you 
pass are frequently torn up in order to place all kinds of 
conduits and pipes and wires underground. Every city 
has its great systems of waterworks and sewerage. These 
large pipes have to be laid below the pavements. Pipes 
for gas and electric wires are also often laid under- 
ground by the telephone and telegraph and electric light 
companies. 

Most cities permit streets to be torn up only once in a 
certain number of years. However, if any danger men- 



48 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

aces the public welfare, such as the escape of gas or sew- 
age, it is necessary to dig up the street again and make 
the required repairs. 

The street department of a city has a great deal of 
responsibility; to repair the pavements and curbings on 
streets already made, to complete new streets in the 
districts which are rapidly increasing in population, to 
open up boulevards and parkways connecting park sys- 
tems, are some of the chief undertakings carried on by 
cities through the street department. 

The street department is generally managed by a com- 
mission. A man called the ''superintendent" is ap- 
pointed by them to take charge of the work which they 
lay out to be done. There is also a surveyor or engineer 
who attends to the grading of the new streets or who re- 
pairs the old streets to bring the grade to the proper level 
with new ones. 

In the days of ancient Rome, engineers knew how to 
build wonderful roads. In many countries from which 
you have come there are roads and highways which were 
built by the Romans still in use. 

Here in America we have tried different kinds of 
street paving. The most practicable have proved to be 
pavements of stone or wooden blocks for streets on 
which there is the heaviest teaming, and asphalt or 
macadamized roadways for other sections of the city. 
Through suburban or country districts, skillfully built 
macadamized roads are the best. You can readily see 
what an immense cost it must be to build a state road 
from one end of the State to another, yet all over the 



THE STREET DEPARTMENT 



49 



country such highways are being built. The automobile 
and auto truck have created the need of well-built roads. 
Much heavy teaming is now done by motor power. 

Questions 

What kind of pavements have you in your community? 

Do you remember the kind of pavings you had in the old coun- 
try? 

What value to the city is an avenue or boulevard which is kept in 
repair? 

What cities in Europe do you remember as famous for attractive 
streets? 

Lesson V — The Street Department 




DUMP CARTS OF THE STREET DEPARTMENT 

All night in the larger cities, and during the day in 
towns and smaller cities, you will see men busily occu- 
pied in clearing the streets and alleys of waste. Other 



50 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 



men come and take away the ashes and rubbish from 
your houses and tenements. Because of the coming and 

going of many wagons, 
heavy trucks, and au- 
tomobiles, much rub- 
bish and dirt collects 
constantly, so there is 
urgent need of the 
work of the street- 
cleaners. They come 
with great brooms and 
sweep the dirt away. 
Sometimes the brooms 
are drawn by horses, 
but more often one 
sees men in uniforms 
with hand brooms and 
scrapers cleaning the streets. In hot weather the streets 
are sprinkled by 
water-carts sent 
out by the street 
department. In 
the crowded dis- 
tricts on hot 
nights men flush 
out the streets 
with the hose of 
the fire depart- 
ment. Sick chil- 
dren and older 



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^^H 


,, 


■ 


^^ijiii 


tp».J 


m 


^^^^K ''^ ' ~^'^^^^'''^^^^^H 


^^£3 


Pf 


^^'% ^H 


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|^^-tu--'^B 




u 


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A STREET CLEAXER AT WORK 




A STREET SWEEPER 



THE STREET DEPARTMENT 



51 



people benefit from the freshened air which follows 
this washing. In winter the street department has to 
remove the snow. After a snowstorm which has lasted 
all night, the street men turn out promptly with shovels 
and carts and wagons on runners, and clear the streets. 
This disposal of the great snow piles makes it possible 
for you to go to your work in shop or factory when the 
bells ring at 6 or 7 o'clock. After an ice-storm men come 
to spread sand and thus make the walking less slippery. 
Again you are benefited by the care which the city takes 
of the streets. 




STREET-FLUSHING MACHINES 

Questions 

Why does the city spend so much money on street cleaning? 

How does this cleanliness assist in preventing disease? 

Do new Americans realize that they ought to help keep the 
streets clean? 

Are you careful not to fill the ash barrels too full, and not to throw 
newspapers, paper bags, fruit-skins, and other rubbish into the streets? 



52 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

Lesson VI — Health in the Home 

In order to keep well, there are certain things a well 
person should do constantly. Live in a clean room and in 
a clean house ; sleep with windows open so that fresh air 
can enter the room all night. Bathe often in hot water; 
also take cold baths to give fresh vitality; change your 
underwear frequently; buy food that is pure; eat whole- 
some food properly cooked ; drink pure water. Keep the 
ice-chest and the sink clean. Remove all garbage, refuse, 
and waste. Do not let the ashes collect. Take deep 
breathing exercises often if your work obliges you to sit 
constantly. Try to relax where you have to stand much 
of the time in a shop or factory. 

If your home is in the country, do not neglect open 

drainage. See that the 



FLIES 

Tlies are disease carriers 
Liive and breed in all kinds of filth 
Infect food and drink by germ-laden feet 
"Etach female fly can lay 150 eggs 
Should be kept out of dwellings 



cesspool is drained as 
often as is necessary. 
Pour kerosene on stag- 
nant pools where flies and 
mosquitoes breed. Do 
not drink from a well dug in low ground. Do not allow 
an overgrowth of vegetation near the house. Keep your 
barns clean. Keep the cowshed in good order and the 
pigsty decent. Fight flies everywhere; all these outhouses 
may be places where germs multiply. Germs are as dan- 
gerous in houses in the country as in tenements in the 
city. 



HEALTH IN THE HOME 53 

Questions 

Are you careful in your home to teach the children how to keep 
well? 

Are the women in your home instructed how to prevent infant 
diseases? 

Do they know what ought to be done if a contagious disease 
appears in the tenement or in a neighbor's house? 

Friendly Advice to Persons having Diseases of the Lungs 

Although you may have trouble in your lungs and 
may be suffering from the disease called tuberculosis, it 
is possible for you to get well, as thousands of others 
do, by strict attention to the following rules: — 

Be out in the fresh air as much as possible. 

If you cannot work out of doors, go to the house door 
or to an open window and take a full breath. Do this 
as often as possible. 

Do not work in a dusty place. Do not get over- 
fatigued at work. 

Get into the sunshine as often as possible. 

Sleep in a clean, well-aired room, with windows open; 
or, better, sleep on a piazza or on a roof; go to bed 
early. 

Avoid crowded rooms where the air is close and where 
there is much smoking. 

Eat plain, simple food (eggs, meat, bread, oatmeal, 
macaroni, rice, vegetables, milk, cream, butter, etc.). 

If possible, have some hot liquid food, before you get 
up in the morning and at bedtime. 

Spend your money for good food rather than for 



54 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

medijcines. Take medicine only on the advice of a 
physician. 

Do not drink whiskey, rum, gin, brandy, beer, or 
other alcohoUc beverages. 

Keep clean. 

Take a sponge bath each morning. Rub the skin well 
with a coarse towel. 

Protect your friends and neighbors from taking this 
disease by burning what you cough up or by throwing it 
down the watercloset. What you cough up contains the 
germs of the disease, and if it dries, it soon becomes dust 
and flies about in the air, and your friends, breathing 
this dust, are liable to catch your disease. You also 
protect yourself by so doing. 

Never spit upon the floor or sidewalk. 

When you must cough, hold a piece of cloth or paper 
in front of your mouth so that particles shall not fly out 
into the room. 

Do not sleep with another person. 

Have your plates, knives, forks, spoons, and things to 
drink from washed with boiling water. 

Use paper towels for wiping them; use paper napkins 
at the table; burn both when soiled. 

Lesson VII — The Health Inspector 

If you live in a tenement house in the city, you may be 
visited by the health inspector. He often finds that some 
of your neighbors need to be told to take better care of 
their rooms. Or, he may find that you need the same 
warning yourself. Sometimes you will find that the same 



THE HEALTH INSPECTOR 55 

agent who comes to visit the tenement goes also to 
private houses and complains because rubbish and waste 
have been allowed to gather in the yard. In America, 
where the housing conditions are quite different from 
those in Europe, it is needful for the city to protect 
every one from disease as far as possible. That is why 
nearly every city takes so much care to inspect the 
homes of all the people. The men who have this care 
are called ''health inspectors/' or agents of the Board of 
Health. Some are appointed especially to try to teach 
new Americans the municipal ordinances or regulations 
on the subject of public health. The inspector teaches 
the immigrant such health laws as the following : — 

1. All tenement houses must be kept clean and the 
yards kept free from all dirt or filth. 

2. All floors, windows, and rooms, also staircases 
and entrances, must frequently be cleaned with 
soap and hot water. 

3. Toilet rooms must be kept free from odors, and 
the water must always be ready to flow. 

4. The Board of Health forbids crowding of sleep- 
ing-rooms. 

5. It is forbidden to keep stagnant or dirty water in 
the yard. 

6. Carpets, rugs, etc., must not be shaken from 
front doors or indoors. When cleaned in the 
house every precaution must be used to prevent 
the scattering of dust. 

7. In every house there should be covered barrels 
in which to throw the refuse. 



56 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

8. It is forbidden to throw anything out of windows 
and the police will arrest any one breaking this 
rule. 

9. All cinders and ashes should be put in metal boxes 
in order to prevent horrible fires in crowded 
houses. 

10. Spitting in streets or other public places is against 
the law. 

11. Every bakery must be kept in good condition, 
free from dirt and flies, and no baking-room should 
be used for a sleeping-room. 

12. The health inspectors have the right to arrest one 
who sells impure milk, although he may be igno- 
rant that the milk is impure. 

13. Every citizen is expected to report the selling of 
impure food in shops. 

14. Both the State and City Boards of Public Health 
will examine without charge any food or drink 
which is suspected of impurity. 

15. The Board of Health may destroy any meat, fish, 
vegetables, or fruits when found in bad condition. 

Questions 

Why is it so necessary to protect the health of the people of the 
city? 

Have you had to ask the Board of Health to protect you or to 
help you? 

What is an epidemic? 

What can you do to pre vent taking a disease at the time of an 
epidemic? 

What diseases should be isolated? 



THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT 



57 



What diseases need to have fumigation of the rooms follow the 
recovery of the patient? 

How do you help th^ city educate your foreign friends to under- 
stand health laws? 

Lesson VHI — The Health Department 




Courtesy, Department of Health, New York City 
MILK INSPECTION AT A RETAIL STORE 



This department of the city government sends out a 
great many diflFerent inspectors. Some inspect the water 
supply, meatshops, grocery stores, factories, and milk 
stations; others, sewers and outhouses. There are in- 
spectors in some cities who are fighting flies, and whose 
duties are to search for the centers where flies are most 
frequent, for here they are likely to find germs which 
produce fatal diseases. 

Almost all cities have hospitals and dispensaries as 



58 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

well as agents who try to prevent the spread of disease. 
A dispensary is a place where you can go for free advice 
if you cannot afford to pay a doctor. The hospitals which 
cities establish give free services to those who cannot 
afford to pay. Most modern city hospitals are now built 
away from the crowded districts on land where cottages 
may be built instead of one large building. Hospitals 
are so arranged that there are private bedrooms as well 
as wards for the sick. There are sun-rooms for patients, 
where they may be taken in rolling chairs. The dietary 
kitchens are carefully looked after, for the question of 
food is very important for the sick. 

Questions 

Have you or your friends ever been sent to a hospital? 
Have you had to use the city dispensary? 

Lesson IX — Fighting Disease 

In most cities at the Board of Health ofSces there is a 
laboratory. The headquarters for public-school vacci- 
nation are generally at such a laboratory. You can also 
find at these offices anti-toxins and vaccines which are 
used to destroy germs of various diseases. The Board 
of Health is notified of all contagious diseases. Where 
a contagious disease has been observed by the visiting 
physician the agent of the Board of Health visits the 
house. He posts a notice upon the outside of the house 
which tells the public the name of the disease. It may 
be scarlet fever, or diphtheria, or measles, or some other 
illness which needs to be kept from sprep Ing. So this 



CARE OF THE HELPLESS 50 

notice warns people to keep away. Very often the agent 
declares that all the persons of the family are in quar- 
antine, which means that they may not go out among 
other people. When this occurs the city is responsible 
for the time lost from w^ork by those who support the 
family. When the doctor says that the patient has re- 
covered, the Board of Health agent comes again to the 
house and fumigates the rooms to prevent the spread of 
germs. 

Questions 

Have you had to fight any contagious disease in your home? 
What did the Board of Health do for you? 
If they had not cooperated with you, what might have hap- 
pened ? 

Lesson X — Care of the Helpless 

When you come into the ports of the United States 
you receive a very careful health examination. The 
United States Government wishes to admit only able- 
bodied men and women and children. This is a very 
natural desire and you can readily understand why. 

But as time goes on, after foreigners have established 
themselves in America, some of them may be affected 
by the change of climate or other conditions. Ill-health 
follows or possibly bad habits are contracted. If they 
have not money to support themselves without work 
and have no friends in the community who can help 
them, they must be supported by the state or the city 
government. This is very tragic for those who have 
been unfortunate. No honest or earnest man wishes 



60 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

to be a pauper for even a little while. However, the 
state and city governments are careful to give aid 
advisedly. If a man has never been a pauper and his 
troubles are such that with a little help he can pull him- 
self together, he is not placed in an institution for pau- 
pers, but given out door aid; — that is, he is helped by 




Copyright by Underwood and Underwood 
A SLEEPING-PORCH IN A CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL 

the city with food and medicines and perhaps clothing 
or the rent for his house until he can better himself. 
In case the dependent becomes seriously ill, he is placed 
in an institution. This is called indoor aid. In this in- 
stitution he receives medical care until he is well enough 
to do a little work every day on the farm or in the shops 
which are part of the institution. Then, if it becomes 



CARE OF THE HELPLESS 61 

certain that he can never support himself, he is given a 
permanent home there. 

States and cities are very kind to those who are actu- 
ally dependent. In some city institutions there are very 
old people who cannot work and who have no one to sup- 
port them, and very young children who have been left 
without parents and friends. Children whose parents 
are destitute are often taken to a charitable asylum. 
But it is better for the city to help the mother keep her 
baby in her own home by aiding her to procure some 
light work than it is for her to leave her child to the care 
of strangers. 

Some years ago there was a famous conference in 
Washington at the White House. It discussed the care 
of dependent children. Some of the conclusions of that 
conference may be of interest to you who are parents or 
brothers or sisters of little children : — 

''Home life is the best for children even when the 
home is poor, because there is no higher love than love 
of parents for children. Therefore, children should be 
kept in their homes if the parents are worthy. Suitable 
assistance should be given mothers to help them care for 
their children, and they should be helped to find work. 
When parents are really unworthy to rear their own 
children, or when the parents have died, instead of put- 
ting the children in institutions, they should be placed 
in the homes of good families where personal care and 
affection will be shown them." 



62 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

Questions 

In your Fatherland what methods are used for caring for orphan 
children? 

Are there any institutions for orphans and destitute children in 
your community? 

Are there any homes for aged men and women in your town or 
city? 

How much do private societies and associated charities aid the 
city government in caring for city dependents? 

When must a dependent person be cared for by the State instead 
of by the city? 

Have there been widows' pensions acts passed by the State? 

Lesson XI — Public Charities 

The aged, the infirm, the inebriated, and the para- 
lytic are also placed by the State in asylums where they 
can be properly cared for. Hospitals are connected with 
these institutions, and where it is suitable there are in- 
dustrial farms. Many of the inmates of these asylums 
regain their health and come back into city life and earn 
their living. 

Another class of dependents are the defectives, those 
who are deaf and dumb or blind or insane or feeble- 
minded. In almost all the States of the Union people 
are trying to determine how to help these defectives to 
help themselves. The feeble-minded are taught to make 
simple articles. The insane persons who are mild and 
gentle can be taught certain kinds of work. The blind 
are being sent to industrial schools where they learn a 
trade by which to support themselves, and the deaf and 



PUBLIC CHARITIES 63 

dumb are being taught in such a way that they, too, be- 
come of large service in the working world. 

Intemperance and epilepsy cause much poverty. If 
you know young people who show signs of epilepsy or 
who seem unable to keep away from saloons and drink- 
ing-cafes, try to find a place for them in a state "col- 
ony " where simple life is carried on and where vocations 
of all kinds keep the unfortunate persons fully occupied. 
Many doctors believe that drunkenness is often a dis- 
ease, and that the victim needs medicine rather than im- 
prisonment. Some States accordingly place the chronic 
drunkard in a labor colony, where there is medical su- 
pervision, in order that, if curable, the disease may be 
cured. 

You can see that every city must have to spend large 
sums of money to support these dependents and that 
the great state hospitals must also cost large sums. If 
children and newcomers are taught health laws, and if 
city ordinances to preserve health are enforced, it may 
at last be brought about that our city and state govern- 
ments will not have to spend so much money upon the 
care of unfortunates and defectives. The money can 
then be spent for the worthy citizens in broader educa- 
tion and in the enjoyment of art and music. 

Questions 

How can a community help to save the money now spent on 
dependents? 

What can you personally do toward enlightening the newcomers 
in your community in the matter of preserving health? 



64 CIVIC PROTECTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY 

Lesson XII — Private Charities 

In this country and in Europe charity work is carried 
on through private agencies as well as through the Gov- 
ernment. There are homes maintained by churches and 
clubs. There are fresh-air camps and private hospitals, 
sanitariums and asylums, all established by persons or 
groups of persons who wish to contribute sympathy and 
provisions for the needy. Of late years these charities 
have undertaken to educate the dependents so that they 
may, at least in part, take care of themselves. You will 
readily see that these movements that are being carried 
out will end in a higher standard of living and bring 
new happiness into the lives of unfortunates. 

Questions 

What does your church do in private charities? 

Do you go to any association which helps to support dependents? 

What do the associated charities of your city do for your section? 



CHAPTER IV 

CIVIC CONVENIENCES 
Lesson I — The Waterworks 

Did you ever realize that in great cities the streets 
are used for many purposes below the surface pave- 
ments? When you lived on a farm, you were in the habit 
of getting your water supply from a well or perhaps 
from a brook. But there are no wells in cities and large 
towns. The first important step for every city govern- 
ment to take is to make sure that there is a pure water 
supply. This is necessary because health is dependent 
upon pure water. The supply must also be abundant, 
because all kinds of industries need water for cleansing 
purposes. The streets themselves, as we have seen, need 
to be cleaned with water. Plenty of water must always 
be on hand in case of fires. 

The water systems in this country and in Europe have 
been studied carefully in recent years. In order to pre- 
vent disease being carried by water many old-fashioned 
methods have given way to modern systems. These 
are called by different names according to the kind of 
method used. There are sand filters, high water reser- 
voirs, and driven wells. The important thing is to make 
the water pure in order to kill all germs and thus 
prevent the spread of contagious diseases. Years ago 
people were ignorant about diseases and did not know 
that impure water carries fever germs. Thousands of 



66 CIVIC CONVENIENCES 

people drank daily of polluted water, and epidemic af- 
ter epidemic visited them. All this was changed when 
physicians discovered that the germs of typhoid fever 
could be traced to water supplies. It may interest you 
as newcomers to learn the difference in death rates in 
one year after people drank pure water. In one city, 
several years ago, the death rates from one disease were 
as follows: In February, 45 deaths; in March, 50 deaths; 
in April, 27 deaths. During the following year a system 
of filtration was established and the death rate fell to 
the following figures: In February, 2 deaths; in March, 
5 deaths; and in April, 7 deaths. You can imagine how 
proud a city must be that can check its death rate so 
rapidly in one year. 

Questions 

How is the water of your communitv brought to your city? 

What kind of filtration have you? 

Have you ever been told to boil the water during the hot weather 
or during the time of an epidemic? 

If your drinking water is not boiled, what risk do you run? 

Why should you be careful not to drink stagnant water and never 
to use water that has a bad odor? 

Why in most towns and cities is water measured or metred? 

Lesson II — The Sewer System 

The sewer conduits are also under the streets. Every 
house and tenement has water waste and refuse waste 
that must be promptly taken care of in order to prevent 
disease. The sewerage system of a city like New York 
or Chicago consists of very large conduits sunk below 



LIGHTING 67 

the streets. Through these the refuse is propelled by a 
high pressure of water. These conduits are almost like 
canals. Small pipes from every house convey waste into 
them. 

Recent discoveries have been made which may be of 
interest to you. If sewage is poured upon a sand filter 
until it lies a few inches deep over the sand, the water 
from the sewage filters through the sand and becomes 
purified. Then the water is available not only for fire 
purposes but also for other city needs. It has not been 
found suitable for household use. 

Questions 

What was done with the refuse and waste from your home in the 
old country? 

If you hved as a boy or girl on an American farm where there was 
no sewage, how did you care for your waste there? 

Why is it impossible for us to use the same methods in the city 
that are used in the country? If you should smell a disagreeable 
odor coming up from the sewerage through the manhole in your 
street, what would be your duty to yourself and neighborhood? 

Lesson III — Lighting 

The street -lighting system of a city is very important. 
Not until recently have the governments of cities real- 
ized that powerful lights are more useful at night than 
policemen. They have at last come to realize that no 
wrong or crime is likely to be committed in a neighbor- 
hood where every one can see what is going on. If you 
should live in a district in a city which is badly lighted, 
try to get enough neighbors to draw up a petition to 



68 



CIVIC CONVENIENCES 




POWER HOUSE OE A ZvIUXICIPAL LIGHTING PLANT 

ask the city fathers to give you more light. Your boys 
and girls will then be much better protected on narrow 
streets and back alleys. Dark localities are dangerous 
because evil people may be in hiding there. The famous 
district called White Chapel in London, once one of the 
most evil places in the great city, is now giving the 
policemen no trouble simply because electric lights all 
night long make the district as light as day. 



Questions 

Suppose your gas meter leaked, what would you do? 
Who determines the price of gas? 

Is gas Hght really cheaper than electric light for household pur- 
poses? 



RAPID TRANSIT 



69 



Lesson IV — Rapid Transit 

It is natural for newcomers to go directly to the homes 
of friends and relatives, but almost immediately after- 
wards you will attempt to find a home of your own. 
You may look for it in the district where your own race 
has grown from a small group into a large body of new 




A GREAT RAILROAD STATION 

Notice that this view shows also trolley-cars and elevated tracks 

Americans. You will not want to make the mistake of 
remaining in any of these crowded sections of the city 
where your friends and relatives may happen to be. 
Try to establish yourself in a suburb, or in the country, 
away from the city as far as may be convenient. In the 
long run it pays to live in the country or suburb. The 
money you spend in car fares you can save on other ex- 



70 CIVIC CONVENIENCES 

penses, such as rent, certain kinds of food, and doctor's 
bills. In looking for such a new home make sure that 
the trolley-car service or steam-railroad service is both 
cheap and rapid. As the population increases in the out- 
lying districts, our city governments are trying to make 
it possible for the people living there to get back and 
forth to the city quickly and easily. Subways and ele- 
vated street railroads, cable cars and surface trolleys 
run in all directions from the heart of a city. Some 
cities have cheap boat service and ferries as well as the 
railroads and electric trolleys. In a great city like New 
York or Boston it takes all these different kinds of serv- 
ices to carry the people from their work to their homes. 

Questions 

Is your system of transportation safe and reasonable? 

Are the ferries and car lines to the suburbs cheap enough to help 
the newcomers to get away from the crowded tenements? 

Do you use the cheap trolley system for pleasure to take your- 
self and children out in the country for walks and picnics? 

Lesson V — Telegraph and Telephone Service 

It would be impossible to-day in great cities for men 
and women to carry on their business without the tele- 
phone and the telegraph. If you wish to do an errand or 
to consult a friend who lives at the other end of the city, 
the journey from one place to another would cost not 
only the car fares, but the time taken from your work. 
By the use of the telephone you may talk to your friend 
without going to his house. The cost is usually less than 
car fare. So, too, the use of the telegraph is a great sav- 



MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP 71 

ing. Your friend has arrived from the old country. You 
would like to meet him at the wharf, but you cannot 
afford to take the long journey. For twenty-five cents 
you can telegraph him a few words of welcome. It would 
seem that without these conveniences to-day we should 
be helpless in our city life, but it is not so very many 
years that we have had them. 

Questions 

Are these civic conveniences of use to you especially? 
Do you stop to think that you might sometimes have saved time 
and money by using the telephone? 

Lesson VI — Municipal Ownership of Civic Conveniences 

In almost all cities in this country the water system 
belongs to the city. It is under the direct supervision 
of the city. The Superintendent of the Waterworks is 
appointed generally by the Mayor and holds his oflBce 
for several years. Only a few of the larger cities have 
allow^ed private ownership to control the water supply. 
But almost all cities have adopted the habit of granting 
to private corporations the privilege to supply the light- 
ing of the city, either by gas or by electricity, or by both. 
All cities have allowed the telegraph and telephone sys- 
tems to remain in the hands of private corporations. 
The transportation privileges throughout the country 
generally also belong to corporations. Cities and towns 
grant these corporations the right to build their tracks 
through the streets in exchange for the service which 
they render. 



72 CIVIC CONVENIENCES 

In Europe, many cities have tried public ownership of 
all these civic conveniences; and in the United States 
some cities are attempting to take under their control 
at least the transportation system or the lighting sys- 
tem. A few cities which have taken over the control of 
gas plants and electric light plants have reduced the 
rates to the people. 

Municipal markets have already greatly reduced the 
cost of living wherever they have been opened. Many 
cities are now arranging such markets, which will in the 
future bring together the farmer and the consumer. The 
man who is called the middle man, and- he has for years 
been the go-between, will no longer be needed, and the 
money paid to him will be saved by the consumer, or 
the man who buys produce from the farmer. 

Municipal theaters and musical centers already exist 
in some cities. Dramatic societies are formed in such 
communities, and music leagues. Where there are peo- 
ple who are interested in raising the standards of the 
drama and of music, these societies and leagues perform 
the duties of censors, discouraging poor music and poor 
dramatic talent. They not only disapprove of such pro- 
ductions, but they fail to patronize the theaters and 
musical centers. Thus municipal ownership of places 
of amusement becomes standardized and raises the tone 
of society. 

Questions 

Do you think that pubHc ownership is Hkely to be developed in 
the near future in large cities? 



MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP 73 

Can you understand why in the past city governments have not 
attempted to own these different civic conveniences? 

What is a franchise? 

Why should a franchise, when given to private corporations, be 
drawn up with the greatest care, especially in regard to time limit? 

Do you believe in municipal ownership of civic conveniences in 
your city? Why? 



CHAPTER V 

COMMUNITY NEEDS 

Lesson I — Pure Food 

Dealers in meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, and 
fruits are visited often by health inspectors. Both fresh 
and canned goods are examined in order to make sure 




Courtpfi]/, State Board of Hcallh. MoAi^acfiusetts 
AN IDEAL BAKERY, WITH LIGHT, AIR, AND CLEANLINESS 

that nothing which is spoiled or unfit to eat shall be sold 
for food. Under a law known as the ''Pure Foods and 
Drug Act," the Federal Government has insisted upon 
the enforcement of this inspection. The government 
sends inspectors to great packing-houses where they 



PURE FOOD 



75 



often condemn a whole shipment of meat or canned 
goods; but the meat may spoil between the time it leaves 
the inspector and the time we eat it. It may spoil in 
the butcher's shop or the grocery store. If you stop to 
think about it, perhaps you will see that it is better to 
buy your food only where you are sure that it is good; 




A BASEMENT BAKERY - 



Courte.su, State Board of Health, Massachusetts 
-A MENACE TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH 



Disease germs multiply in the dark and damp of the basement. The clothing hanging up in 
this bakery Is a very probable source of infection. 

you may have to pay more for it, but you will save in 
the end by keeping yourself and your family in good 
health. 

If you eat in restaurants you must be especially care- 
ful. Do not eat too much meat in the hot summer 
months, and be careful in buying vegetables and fruit. 
See to it that they come from clean shops where there are 
no flies to breed disease. 



76 



COMMUNITY NEEDS 



Questions 

Has any fly campaign been established in your neighborhood? 
Do you stop to think now when you go into a shop and see flies 
walking over the food that they probably are carrying germs? 
Do you tell your neighbors the value of pure food and drugs? 

Lesson II — Milk Inspection 

In many cities the milk supply is inspected either by 
the city or by associations of citizens. Not only is the 
quality of the milk examined, but also the cans which 




A MILK STATION IN A CITY PARK 

Many cities have established such stations, where people can buy, for a cent or two, a drink 
that is far better than soda water or any other beverage 

contain the milk. The inspector who deals with the 
milk has instruments to test it and can tell at once 
whether the milk has been diluted with water. If the 
inspector is honest and does his duty, he will pour the 
milk out of the can, if it is not up to standard, rather 



MILK INSPECTION 



77 



than have it fall below and be sold to homes where little 
children may suffer from it. 

Even milk which is good as to quality is sometimes 
impure because of disease germs, and people who drink 
the milk are made ill. In the summer-time milk is more 
quickly affected by germs. You should make sure that 




Courtesyy District Nursing Association, Boston, Mass. 

A BABY-MILK STATION 

The milk sold here for a few cents is perfectly clean and pure, and is variously adapted to the 
needs of different babies. In many cities such milk stations have been established 

your wives and sisters at home understand this. Buy 
milk which is bottled in clean bottles and corked. In 
order to be sure that all the germs in the milk are killed, 
see to it that the process of sterilizing or pasteurizing 
the milk is followed. It will not take long to do this and 
the babies will be safe from sickness or death. This is 
the way to do it : — Having put the milk into clean bot- 
tles and corked the bottles, set them over the fire in a 



78 



COMMUNITY NEEDS 



kettle of cold water. Just before the water in the kettle 

reaches the boiling point, take the bottles out and set 

them aside to cool. This process kills the germs in the 

milk and no other germs can get into the bottles because 

they have been well corked. It is much easier to do this 

than to care for a little sick child all through the hot 

weather. 

Questions 

How much have your neighbors suffered from children's sickness 
in the home? 

Have you learned how to sterilize milk? 

Do you visit the milk stations, if there are any in your com- 
munity? 

Lesson III — Housing Inspection 

The State Boards of Health are ever on the lookout 
for other conditions which may breed disease. One of 



aji 


F 1 




^^^■f 


1 




1 


i 




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■ 


1 


^^^^m^^m 


^^^^^ 


0^% 


^^^^Br ~ <% 




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BEFORE CLEANING 



AFTER CLEANING 



FACTORY INSPECTION 79 

their chief duties is to look after the city tenements to 
see that they are kept clean and to be sure that there are 
not too many people living in a small space. Dirt and 
lack of pure air breed disease. So too does a damp cellar. 
Bad plumbing in a house must be looked after. Hence 
it is that the State Boards of Health draw up rules and 
regulations in regard to tenement houses, factories, and 
workshops. If the owners of these buildings disobey or 
neglect these rules, they are punished. 

Questions 

Are the workshops and factories in which you work inspected 
carefully? How often? 

What conditions exist where you work which ought to be looked 
after? 

Why not report them to the Board of Health? 

Lesson IV — Factory Inspection 

In recent years both employers and State Govern- 
ments have begun to think about the loss of human life 
and the great misery and hardship which follow w^hen a 
wage-earner is so injured at his occupation that he can 
no longer w^ork. Factory and mine inspection and the 
inspection of other industries did not exist in this coun- 
try until after the year 1876. Even now there are States 
in our Union w^here no inspectors visit the mills, except 
in search of school children who are working under the 
age limit. No federal laws have as yet been made to en- 
force better conditions in factories and mines. Even in 
some States where laws have been passed, no enforce- 
ment follows because no inspectors are appointed. In 



80 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

such States the hours of labor are too long. Men are 
obliged to work at night; women and children do work 
which injures their health; machinery is not properly 
guarded so that there is great risk of accident to the 
workman. If no inspector ever visits your factory or 
mine, you should report the fact to the Labor Bureau or 



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1 


^te 




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^ 


^ 


li 






^^y 
^&^ 


" '^'''^'^^^^m 


wm 









A CITY OF GREAT MILLS 

to the union or to a newspaper. The proper factory or 
mine inspector carries out the law. Where they do their 
duty you will find machinery properly guarded, the 
working papers of children carefully examined, and good 
sanitation insured. These inspectors are your protec- 
tors; for while there are many things you can guard 
against if you are careful, many accidents are due to 
causes beyond your control. 

Questions 

In what States is manufacturing the principal occupation of the 
people? 

Are these States well protected by laws? 



SWEATSHOPS 



81 



Why do some States have better laws than others? 

Is it possible for public opinion through the newspapers to influ- 
ence the lawmakers? 

If your State needs new laws, how can you as newly naturalized 
citizens help to further public opinion? 

Lesson V — Sweatshops 

In some States factory inspection extends into the 
tenements where any article is produced for the market. 




r / 1/ / '•'>/ Underwood and Underwood 
A SWEATSHOP IN A TENEMENT 
This picture shows exactly tlie conditions under which no one should live or work 

All States should pass laws which should make it neces- 
sary to appoint inspectors to visit workshops, depart- 
ment stores, shops where canning is carried on, bakeries, 
laundries, and most of all the workrooms in tenement 



82 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

dwellings. For in such rooms in the crowded district 
much work is done by individuals or groups of persons 
who all day long are busy at nut-picking, making can- 
died oranges, wrapping and packing bonbons, drying 
macaroni and spaghetti, and the like. In the State of 
New York more than fifty articles have been excluded 
from manufacture in tenements. It is illegal in that 
State to manufacture toys of any kind in tenements. 
Baby caps, baby leggings, and little boots for children 
are among the articles excluded. 

By the enactment of these laws the health of the com- 
munity is much more likely to be preserved and the bur- 
den of long hours for the women and children overcome. 
The inspector of shops and factories not only examines 
the working papers of children, bui reports on ventila- 
tion, plumbing, sanitation, and cleanliness in the tene- 
ments. As they visit shops and factories the inspectors 
also report upon the safeguarding of the machinery, and 
whether seats are provided for the workmen, and some 
inspectors go so far as to decide whether the employee 
is fitted for the work. Some factory inspectors spend 
all their time in the task of keeping track of the children 
who ought to be in school, but who have dodged the 
age-limit law for compulsory school attendance. When 
an inspector finds a child employed, in disobedience of 
the law, the employer has to be prosecuted and the local 
school superintendent must account for his neglect of 
duty. He in turn must hold the health authorities to 
their duties to keep a complete registration of births, 
because it is to this registration that the school super- 



INDUSTRIAL PROTECTION 83 

intendent must turn in order to verify the age of the 
children who have left school. 

Questions 

Why is factory inspection so necessary in order to protect women 
and little children? 

Are there any women inspectors in the factories of your State? 

Why are women inspectors being appointed in shops and fac- 
tories? 

What is the sweatshop business? 

Have inspectors helped to improve the conditions in such shops? 

Why is work carried on in a sweatshop looked upon as a menace 
to the pubHc as well as to those actually employed in the work? 

Lesson VI — Industrial Protection 

In some States wise legislation has taken place and 
laws are enforced that protect laborers in all kinds of 
factory work, in mines, and in other pursuits where there 
are dangerous surroundings. These laws generally refer 
to the protection of men and women in regard to the 
hours of labor, night work, too many hours crowded into 
the week, too late hours, and too early hours. There are 
also laws which protect laborers from the dangers of 
unguarded machinery and from explosives. 

This industrial protection goes so far in some States 
that women and children are not permitted to engage 
in some occupations. For instance, the most frequently 
prohibited employments are work in saloons, cleaning 
machinery, work where emery or other polishing mate- 
rials are used for buffing wheels or where articles made 
of the baser metals are manufactured. Several States 



84 



COMMUNITY NEEDS 



have passed laws which regulate the sanitary condi- 
tions in industrial work: in bakeshops and laundries; 
in restaurants, hotels, telephone and telegraph offices. 

In such businesses as 
harvesting, preserv- 
ing, and canning eith- 
er vegetables or fruits, 
the regulations are ar- 
ranged to meet the 
demands of the lim- 
ited periods for work. 
Long hours at such 
labor are taken in- 
to consideration, but 
even here the time is 
limited to a maximum. 
For immigrants in- 
dustrial protection is 
especially important. 
The working-man 
who has come here 
from a foreign coun- 
try suffers most when 
he begins to work 
in mines and factories, 
because he is unable 
to understand orders 
or to read signs and notices. Then again he may be 
unaccustomed to machinery, and therefore sometimes 
more careless than American workmen who understand 




AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER AT WORK 



WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION 85 

factory methods. Moreover, the kind of work the Im- 
migrant first finds to do in this country is hkely to fa- 
tigue him in body. His surroundings make him Hable 
to accident in the building industry and in manufac- 
turing. Common laborers run large risks. Even on the 
farm where modern machinery is used, accidents are 
increasing. Industrial protection is therefore most im- 
portant to the immigrant. 

Questions 

Did you work in any factory or mine in your home country? 
Were there laws to protect laborers in industries? 
How were the inspectors appointed who enforced these laws? 
We have no federal law in this country upon industrial protec- 
tion. Would such a law be an advantage? 

Lesson VII — Workmen^s Compensation 

Workmen in many States are now being compensated 
for injuries which occur in factories and other industrial 
work. State laws provide prompt and reasonable pay- 
ment for such accidents. The amount of payment de- 
pends upon the kind and extent of injury. Only willful 
misconduct on the part of the injured person relieves the 
employer from making payment. The employee may 
prefer to refuse the compensation provided by the Work- 
men's Compensation Act. In such a case he falls back 
on his common-law rights and proceeds against his em- 
ployer to recover damages through the court. 

The payment given to a workman who has been in- 
jured or made ill through his work varies in different 
States. The general idea is to provide relief for the 



S6 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

victims of accidents and for their dependent families as 
speedily as possible and with justice both to the work- 
man and to the employer. 

Questions 

Has your State passed a law relative to the compensation of 
workmen for accidental injuries? 

Have you or any of your friends met with injuries which have 
been immediately adjusted by the regulations of the Workmen's 
Compensation Act? 

If your State has not passed such laws, what have been the ob- 
jections urged against them? 

Would you prefer to work for an employer under the common- 
law right or under the Compensation Act? Why? 

Lesson VIII — Child Labor Laws 

At what age do the children in your fatherland leave 
school to go to work? When may you begin work in 
this State? 

The child-labor laws in the different States of the 
United States vary. In some few States of the Union 
these laws not only prevent children from going to work 
before the age of sixteen, but insist that these children 
shall be strong enough to do the particular kind of work 
in which they find themselves, and also well enough edu- 
cated to be intelligent workers. Other States require at 
least that children shall reach the age of fourteen, and 
be able to read and write English equivalent to third- 
grade public-school requirements. Still other States 
have as a minimum a twelve-year age limit, while a few 
States have no child-labor laws as yet. 



CHILD LABOR 



87 



The object of these laws is not only to keep children 
from going to work until they are old enough, but to 
keep children in school 
until they mature both 
in body and character. 

Questions 

What are the child-labor 
laws in this State? 

How have they affected 
members of your own family? 

Do you see how much bet- 
ter it is to let a boy or girl 
grow strong in body and gain 
an honest and upright char- 
acter than to permit these 
children to enter employment 
which might both undermine 
their strength and morals? 

Lesson IX — Child Labor 

These laws do not ap- 
ply as strictly to street 
work as to factory labor, 
although in the leading 
cities much care is being expended to better the con- 
ditions under which school children especially are per- 
mitted to work on the street. Street work consists of 
selling newspapers, blacking boots, peddling, or running 
errands and carrying messages. 

Thousands of boys and girls all over the country are 
at work early in the morning and sometimes late at 




BOY OPERATIVES 

Would it not be better to send these boys to school ? 



88 



COMMUNITY NEEDS 



night. In almost all cases harm to these children fol- 
lows such employment. You who are parents coming 
from other countries, where children live a free life out 
of doors or on farms, must understand that much trou- 
ble may come to you and to your families because of 

the employ- 
ment of your 
children in 
street trades. 
You must re- 
alize that to 
permit your 
children to 
wander 
about the 
streets un- 
cared for by 
any friend is 

a great risk, especially if they do not understand the 
language and customs of this new country to which you 
have brought them. The street trades are dangerous 
for children because of late hours and bad company^ 
because of gambling and smoking habits that may be 
contracted. Moreover, the street trades are dangerous 
from a physical point of view. Selling papers on street 
cars often results in a large number of accidents every 
year; exposure to severe weather results in ill-health 
and more serious consequences. Truancy from school 
is the direct effect of juvenile streetlife. Spending money 
too freely^ so common among street boys, is due to 




NEWSBOYS AND BOOT-BLACKS 

Is a street trade the best education for your boy ? 



CHILD LABOR 89 

the loose change which they have to handle in their 
trades. 

Many boys have paid their way through high school 
and college or have materially aided their families by 
carrying on these street trades, but these boys have 
been very careful about their habits. They have used 
the street trades as stepping-stones to something better. 
Even if your children must, for the time being, work at 
street trades to earn money, they still can avoid contract- 
ing bad habits. They don't have to smoke; they don't 
have to gamble; they don't have to drink; they don't have 
to make short change; they don't have to stay away late 
at night; they can keep out of court by knowing the laws 
and ordinances of the city and observing them strictly. 
Encourage them both to look for better work and to be 
honest and upright while they must work on the streets. 

Questions 

What did you do in the old country after school? 

Do the children of your fatherland seem to like their way of life 
better than the children here who enter into street trades to help 
their families like theirs? 

What are the dangers to newspaper boys especially? 

What different kinds of danger arise when a boy is a bootblack? 

W^hat should a messenger boy guard against? 
. Why are the laws concerning child labor becoming more careful 
regarding street trades and attempting to prevent girls from enter- 
ing this form of employment? 

Have you ever seen girls tending stands on market days and 
nights or sitting on the sidewalk selling articles to passers-by? 

What are the dangers for such girls? 

Are there any special dangers besides physical ones for errand 
boys and delivery boys? 



90 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

Lesson X — The Curfew 

Your little children or younger brothers and sisters 
often like to stay out on the streets late at night. The 
street and its activities fascinate them. The lights, the 
moving crowds, the street music attract them into the 
street far away from the home in the evening. Of 
course, you know too much excitement is not good for 
young people. They need more than eight hours' rest 
and sleep because they have to lay up a great store of 
energy which they will later be called upon to expend 
in their daily work. 

Many cities in this country have established a curfew. 
The curfew means the ringing of bells or the blowing of 
whistles each night at a given hour, generally at nine 
o'clock. This signal reminds the boys and girls who are 
under fourteen or sixteen years of age that the city ex- 
pects them to leave the streets and return to their homes. 
Wherever it exists, parents and teachers are glad to 
have the curfew. You, who are parents or older brothers 
and sisters, should help to enforce the curfew law by 
insisting that the younger members of the families turn 
their steps toward home at the sound of the curfew. 

Questions 

Have you a curfew in your city? 
If not, why not? 
Is it enforced? 

Are the habits of the young people improving because of it? 
What accidents or tragedies are children likely to avoid by being 
sent to their homes at a proper bedtime? 



PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS 



91 



Lesson XI — Parent-Teacher Associations 

In nearly every city there are parent-teacher associa- 
tions which you ought to join as soon as you get settled. 
The prime object of these 
associations is to bring pa- 
rents and teachers closer 
together that they may 
learn to know one another 
and to work with one an- 
other for the best interests 
of the children. No teacher 
can really educate children 
and guide them into the 
best ideals of citizenship 
unless their home condi- 
tions and home problems 
are thoroughly understood. 
On the other hand, no pa- 
rents can effectively coop- 
erate with teachers unless 
they know the actual school 
conditions and school prob- 
lems. Parents and teach- 
ers alike must, therefore, 
visit one another, meet to- 
gether and talk matters over both in private and in 
public. One of the objects of the parent-teacher asso- 
ciation is to arrange for exchange visits in the homes 
and to bring about public conferences. Judges and 




TRUANTS FROM SCHOOL? 

Life on the streets tempts boys from their studies 



92 



COMMUNITY NEEDS 



educators, liberal leaders and business men are often 
invited to talk before these associations, explaining to 
the parents the opportunities which open up in the 
world at large for their children, especially when a good 
education has prepared the children for service. New 
Americans, too old to go to school, can obtain a liberal 
education by attending these associations. If none ex- 
ists in your district, organize one; the School Board will 
help you and the teachers will be ready to cooperate. 




KEPT OUT OF SCHOOL? 

Children are sometimes sent into the streets to collect fuel. Should this be 
allowed to interfere with their attendance at school ? 



Questions 

Were there any parent-teacher associations in your own country? 
What can you learn from American teachers about yourself and 
your children, or your little brothers and sisters? 
What can the teacher learn from you? 
Why not have a parent-teacher association in all evening schools? 



SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS 



93 



Lesson XII — Social Settlements 

Social settlements are like neighborhood centers, but 
they are conducted by private citizens instead of by the 
city. There are about five hundred social settlements in 
this country. In the leading cities you will find one in 




Courtesy, Boston Music School Settlement 
AN EVENING WITH BOOKS 



nearly every thickly settled neighborhood. Many set- 
tlements are devoted especially to the needs and inter- 
ests of the new Americans. There are practically no 
such places in Europe. 

What is a social settlement.^ It is a neighborhood 
house open to all the people, young and old, men and 



94 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

women. It makes no difference what one's religion or 
race may be. Everybody is welcome. Some come for 
advice, others for education, others for pleasure. You 
may have some legal troubles or an educational problem 
to solve. You will often find here a good lawyer or a 




GAMES AT A SOCIAL SETTLEMENT 



teacher who will tell you just what to do. You will also 
find free classes in English, history, art, and industry. 
You may join a club of your fellow countrymen which 
meets at the settlement. Often you will be invited to 
meet a leader of your people who is touring America, or 
to listen to a lecture in your own tongue. Here you may 
find papers or books in your own language as well as in 



MOVING PICTURES AND CENSORSHIP 95 

English. Above all, you will find in the settlement com- 
panions and friends both in the residents and workers 
and in the people who come there. The ideal settlement, 
like America itself, stands for pure democracy. 

Questions 

How can you help the settlement and similar agencies to make 
your neighborhood a healthier and happier place to live in? 

How do you hope to share your education with your neighbors? 
How can you make your own home a neighborhood center^ 

Lesson XIII — Moving Pictures and Censorship 

You will find moving-picture houses in almost every 
American town and city. These places of entertainment 
draw large crowds of people every day. Long before the 
new American can understand enough English to enjoy 
going to the theaters, the moving-picture shows give him 
an evening's or an afternoon's entertainment or instruc- 
tion. At present the pictures are good, bad, or indiffer- 
ent. It is the parents' duty to learn which are the really 
good moving-picture shows in the town and to visit only 
the best resorts and to let their children go only to the 
best. You should take great pains to guide your chil- 
dren to enjoy only pictures of the highest class. At the 
right kind of moving-picture shows the films have been 
carefully chosen by a committee which has the welfare 
of the community at heart. This is called ''censorship," 
and this censorship, if followed carefully in the next few 
years, will make of moving pictures a most important 
contribution to education. In all probability moving- 



96 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

picture machines will be introduced into the schools and 
colleges to aid in instruction, and lessons in history and 
geography and art will be greatly improved by illustra- 
tions thrown upon the screen. 

Questions 

What benefits have you derived from moving-picture shows? 

What bad habits can be acquired by visiting the shows too 
often? 

Have you been careful in guiding children to go to the best 
moving-picture houses? 

If moving pictures are introduced into the schools, what will be 
some of the immediate benefits in the community? 

Lesson XIV — Self-Governing Clubs 

All over this country Americans, both old and new, 
are getting together into groups. They organize into 
clubs, societies, leagues, lodges, and unions. As a rule 
the lodge and the union are organizations for special 
purposes, such as ''sick benefits," the movement for 
''eight hours a day," or for, personal and family protec- 
tion. But the many little debating societies and clubs 
which exist in every town or city are also of untold 
benefit to the new Americans. They are training schools 
in self-government. They represent in a small way the 
methods and the principles of the Republic itself, which 
is after all but a self-governing club on an immense 
scale. 

The best way to fit yourself as a member in the body 
politic in the United States is to join one of these little 
clubs in your own community. Here you will learn how 



SELF-GOVERNING CLUBS 



97 




THE CIVIC SERVICE HOUSE, BOSTON 

A social settlement and school for citizenship. The tallest building, at the right, affords a roof- 
garden, club-rooms, lecture-rooms, and a library. The building in the center houses the Boston 
Music School Settlement. The one-story shop at the left it is intended to use as a milk-station ; 
it already provides a second roof-garden 

men talk with each other, and how they act together. 
You will learn parliamentary law, the principles of de- 
bate, and the art of presenting your own views to your 
fellow members, as well as to accept with grace the views 



98 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

of others when the majority accepts such views. All 
great leaders in political affairs have been developed in 
these self-governing groups. An efficient secretary or a 
wise president of an insignificant society may in later 
life hold a similar office in a very important organiza- 
tion. Not only the officers but the members of the rank 
and file get a valuable education out of self-governing 
clubs. They learn in club meetings how to apply the 
constitution to the special problems which arise. This 
knowledge is of much value when the process of natu- 
ralization has made you a citizen of the United States, 
and you enter into the new American life with the hope 
of understanding its constitutional principles as well as 
serving as a good citizen. 

Questions 

What are the duties of the secretary of a club? 

What must he be able to do well before he is appointed to such 
a position? 

What should be the requirements of the treasurer of a club? 

What kind of a person should the president of a club be? 

What are his most important duties? 

When a standing committee or an executive committee is ap- 
pointed in a club, what are the qualifications of the members? 

For those who are not connected with the governing of the club 
there are certain responsibilities for each member; name the most 
important. 

Lesson XV — Legal-Aid Societies 

Because young women especially need protection as 
they come and go from their work or amusements, 
groups of people have clubbed themselves together and 



LEGAL-AID SOCIETIES 99 

formed organizations for the protection of girls and inex- 
perienced people. There are men who try to get their 
living out of other people by cheating or by worse 
methods. Because of this great injustice to innocent 
society these legal-aid societies are attempting to sug- 
gest improvements in the laws and court proceedings as 
they now stand as well as to give immediate advice and 
render service in all individual cases as they find them. 
Wage claims and other bills are brought by the people 
to the legal-aid societies for collection, in order to avoid 
the expense of engaging lawyers and carrying the cases 
before the court. Divorce cases are again and again 
prevented by the kindly adjustments of these societies. 
Often it is a question of damages for personal injuries in 
factories where no state compensation law exists, which 
are looked after by the societies. 

Among new Americans this legal aid is most impor- 
tant, for it protects foreigners who are ignorant of the 
language and tlie customs and the law. Foreigners are 
very often unjustly charged with crimes. This injustice 
can be explained away if the newcomer, through an 
interpreter if necessary, seeks the aid of these societies. 
Recently these legal-aid societies have formed them- 
selves into the National Alliance of Legal- Aid Societies. 
In the future this Alliance hopes to build up such a chain 
of legal-aid societies that there will be no opportunity 
for a lonely man or woman to go without free advice and 
counsel in all personal difficulties. 



100 COMMUNITY NEEDS 

Questions 

Have you ever been helped by any legal-aid society? 

What special needs can you think of which have not already been 
developed in these societies which should be developed? 

As you have seen young people coming from the old country, 
what are the most common cases through ignorance of law and lan- 
guage which have brought them before the courts? 



CHAPTER VI 

CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 
Lesson I — " Safety First '' 

All over this country a new watchword is being used, 
'' Safety First ! " Here and there a city takes up the cry 
with special zest and apphes it in many situations in- 
volving danger to life and limb. ''Safety First" signs 
are then posted everywhere — in street cars, in railways, 
on trucks and wagons. The newspapers take it up and 
carry the watchword into the home, the shop, and the 
factory. Now that these words have become bywords, 
almost every one is beginning to think and talk about 
the safety campaign. Sermons are preached upon the 
subject. The schools are interpreting the idea to the 
children, and at civic centers and settlements illustrated 
lectures are used to show the dangers of city life and 
labor and the way to avoid these dangers. 

What are the results of these campaigns.^ It is re- 
markable to what extent accidents are being reduced. In 
crowded cities and in dangerous occupations, the cam- 
paign for safety has already reduced by one half the 
number of deaths and injuries from accidents. The 
reason for this success is obvious. Ordinarily city people 
are in too much of a hurry to think about accidents, but 
when they are made to realize the dangers of everyday 
life, they respond to the common sense appeal and take 
more care. 



102 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 



Questions 

If the rules of '* Safety First" had been observed, could the Ti- 
tanic disaster have been prevented? 

How have accidents at sea been prevented recently? 

Lesson II — ** Clean-up, Paint-up " 

A spring cleaning of some kind has long been common 
among all people the world over. In some countries it 
even becomes a religious duty, such as the cleansing 
days prior to the Passover among the Jews. There is a 
similar custom among the people of India. 

Years ago landlords and tenants did their spring 
cleaning whenever they chose. Rubbish which had col- 
lected for months 
was brought down 
from the attics and 
up from the cel- 
lars of tenement 
houses and left on 
the sidewalks, mak- 
ing the streets look 
hideous. More- 
over, the street de- 
partment was not 
always prepared to handle such a lot of waste and refuse. 
Because of this, the cities that are specially interested 
in city planning and in shaping the ''City Beautiful" 
have recently begun to organize what are called " Clean- 
up, Paint-up" campaigns. 

The idea of such movements is to do our spring clean- 




A BACK- YARD FLOWER GARDEN 



CLEAN-UP, PAINT-UP 



108 




WINDOW BOXES ON A TENEMENT BALCONY 



ing together and to do it in an organized way. The city 
and citizens plan the campaign weeks ahead. Each dis- 
trict is given dates 
within which to get 
its cleaning done. 
City teams take 
the rubbish away 
the same morning 
that it is put on 
the sidewalk; thus 
an orderly cleaning 
is accomplished in 
all the districts of 
a great city. 

Then follows the ''Paint-up" campaign. Civic pride 
causes the people to repaint their houses. Fresh paint 

changes the 
aspect of the 
whole street, 
and the ten- 
ants who live 
in the houses 
immediately 
respond by add- 
ing personal 
touches to the 
buildings. Win- 
dow-boxes ap- 
pear, and where possible, seeds are sown and shrubs set 
out in the tiny yards that surround tenement houseSo 




A TENEMENT ROOF-aARDEN 



104 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 



Even roof-gardens begin to appear after the campaign 
is well under way. 

Questions 

In the district in which you live has this campaign taken place? 

If not, why not help start such a campaign? 

What is the special value of window-boxes and roof -gardens to 
you? — to the city? 

As you remember your homes in the fatherland, do they compare 
well with your homes in this country? 

Why was it so much easier in many cases to keep the native home 
cleaner than in these crowded cities? 

Lesson III — Billboards 




A GROUP OF BILLBOARDS 



The appearance of a street is often spoiled, no matter 
how well it has been planned, by hideous billboards in 
vacant lots or glaring posters on board fences. A yard 
or fence is often rented to a business firm to post its 
advertisements, but the rent or profit received by the 
property owner is very little in comparison with the loss 



THE USE OF VACANT LOTS 105 

which follows. The presence of billboards always lessens 
the value of property, and sometimes hurts the charac- 
ter of the neighborhood, as is the case when they adver- 
tise the very things you are trying to keep your children 
away from, such as cigarettes and liquor. 




THE BILLBOARDS BEMOANED 

One improvement leads to another. Observe that the driveway and the sidewalk have been rebuilt 

Questions 

When is a billboard especially objectionable? 

How can you remove such a billboard from yourneighborhood? 

Lesson IV — The Use of Vacant Lots 

Almost every city owns open lots where, in the past, 
waste and refuse and ashes have been dumped. Such 
dumping-places spoil the beauty of a city just as surely 
as they ruin its health. The city with civic pride does 
not allow such dumps to exist. In some cities the street 
lights are produced by burning rubbish as fuel in the 
power-houses. Some cities clear the land where dumps 



106 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 



have been and invite persons to use the land for farming 
purposes, or make a school garden where the children 
will find not only recreation but education. 

Here are ten commandments regarding open lots which 

one city has published, 
and which every city 
ought to take into 
consideration: — 

1. Love your neigh- 
bor's lot as you 
do your own, but 
be sure to love 
your own. 

2. Do not plant 
tomato cans or 
rubbish on un- 
used land; their 
fruits are with- 
ered civic pride. 

3. Do not allow 
yourself or your 
city to create 
dumps for waste. 
Rubbish can be 
made to pay for 
its own destruc- 
tion. 

4. Do not allow tumbledown buildings to stand on 
valuable land. They create filth, invite vice, and 
are a menace to life. They do not save the owners 
any money. 




A MISUSED VACANT LOT 

An area in the residence section of a city, used as a dump, 
from whicli dust and disease can spread. It could easily be 
cleared and used for children's gardens, or a playground or 
athletic field 



THE USE OF VACANT LOTS 



107 



5. A fence that has ceased to be a fence and has be- 
come an offense should be repaired or destroyed. 

6. Unregulated advertising on unused land pays for 
the maintenance of a public nuisance. 

7. Two gardens may grow where one dump has 
bloomed before. 

8. School gardens are valuable adjuncts to education 
and recreation; they can be cultivated on an open 
lot. 

9. Let the children play on the unused land so that 
they may become strong and keep out of the hands 
of the law. 

10. Let not an inch of land be kept in idleness. It has 
a divine right to bear fruits and flowers and ever 
serve the highest interests of men. 



SCHOOL GARDENING 



Questions 

What should you do with the garbage and waste that collects in 
your home? 



108 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 



If the property in your neighborhood is made a dumping-ground 
by other people, what can you do about it? 
Why is an open dump injurious to health? 



Lesson V — Better Housing 

The most important influence in your life is your 
home. You work hard to pay for it; you choose your 

wife to grace it; 
your children are 
born into it. This 
home often has to 
be in a house which 
you do not own. 
But whether you 
hire a house or 
only a few rooms 
in a tenement, or 
only one room, it is 
your own home for 
you and your wife 
and children. If 
you are not mar- 
ried, you still have 
to have a home, and you choose to live in a house with 
other people. 

Because of the importance of home life, new Ameri- 
cans sooner or later become very much interested in 
establishing themselves in homes. You have already 
found that there are many kinds of homes, — the farm 
in the country, the cottage in the suburbs, the one- 




CROWDED CITY TENEMENTS 

How can it be healthful to live in a place like this ? 



BETTER HOUSING 109 

family house, the two-family house, the three-decker, 
and finally the block of tenements often containing 
over two thousand men, women, and little children. 
There are also boarding-houses, lodging-houses, and 
hotels. 

In early history our ancestors lived in log cabins and 
in tents, one-room houses, with the out-of-doors round- 
about which gave them a chance for gardening and 
outdoor life. Yet those primitive homes had not the 
conveniences which modern buildings and cities have. 
There was no water service, no lighting, no sewers, no 
rapid transit. Think how hard it was for these primi- 
tive homes to supply themselves with water; in winter 
all was frozen and in summer the wells often went dry. 
Think how hard it was to keep warm and to cook in such 
homes. 

As people flocked to the large cities, the city tenements 
were developed to serve the new human needs. So it is 
that the immigrants are both the cause and the effect 
of overcrowding in the tenements. This overcrowding 
which affects both health and happiness begins in a very 
simple way. A single house is divided into two apart- 
ments. Perhaps the attic is converted into another 
story. The next owner adds two stories, and before long 
the families are living in the top of the building, in the 
front of the building, in the rear of the building, and per- 
haps even in the cellar. A little store is divided off into 
rooms; some of the tenants take boarders. Thus the 
one-family home becomes filled with four or five fami- 
lies, possibly of different nationalities crowded together 



110 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 



under one roof. The greatest evil lies in the cellar 
homes, which are almost always damp, dark, and un- 
healthy. There the street noise is loudest, the air is 
poorest, and there is the least sunshine. Since air and 
light are as important to life as bread and water, you 
can readily see what price you pay for living in such 




Photograph by Jessie Tarhox 1 
THE "DARK ROOM" DANGER OF THE TENEMENTS 

The rooms '' ventilate " from one to another ; bedroom, dining-room, and kitchen being practi- 
cally one room, with only one window opening to the outer air. Most of the old, small tene- 
ments were built on this plan and are accotmtable for much of the lung disease in cities to-day 



homes. Overcrowding is hardest on the little ones and on 
the old people and on the sick, who are mostly confined 
to the home. In such homes children die almost as fast 
as they are born, and the old people become invalids 
or die before their time. Dwellers in such overcrowded 
tenements do not love their homes and therefore do not 



BETTER HOUSING 



111 



care enough about them to keep them in decent order. 
The result is neglect, dirt, disease, death. 

Many cities have passed laws forbidding the use of 
cellars as dwellings, and prohibiting the overcrowding 
of tenements. They have also ordered particularly bad 




A HEALTHFUL BEDROOM 

Windows on two sides ; shades rolling from the middle ; draperies few and washable ; no carpet* 
but rugs by the bedside 

tenements to be improved, and have passed laws requir- 
ing that new tenements should be built on better plans : 
dark rooms are prohibited, air-shafts made larger, and 
the sanitation safer. The plumbing is especially safe- 
guarded. Rear yards are provided for, and special 
places set apart for garbage barrels. You can see that 



112 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 



these laws insist on cleanliness, on health conditions, on 
fresh air, and more sunshine. Since no laws, however 
good, enforce themselves, you must all cooperate to 
carry them out for the good of all. 




Courtesy, National Cash Register Co., Dayton, Ohio 
MODEL COTTAGES FOR WORKMEN 

In the suburbs of a city it is possible for factory hands to live in houses like these 

Questions 

What are the tenement laws in your community? 

Do you know of any such tenements as we have been describing? 

What are the results of overcrowding? Does your bedroom win- 
dow open into an air-shaft? 

To what extent and in what ways have you suffered in over- 
crowded and bad tenements? 

How can you help raise the standard of living in the average home? 



BUILDING CITIES 113 

What chance has the new American in the average city home to 
enjoy study or play? — or even for personal hygiene? 

In what way does the home life affect a child's character? 

Lesson VI — Building Cities 

New Americans have helped greatly in developing our 
American cities. Many have been very enterprising and 
have bought large sections of land on which they have 
built houses and stores. Not a few have thus made great 
fortunes in real estate. Unfortunately, they have not 
always added to the beauty of the city while adding to 
their incomes. They built purely for selfish reasons 
without regard for the past or for the future of the 
city in which they chose to make their homes. This is a 
great pity, especially as many of you come from villages 
and towns so beautiful that Americans travel miles to 
see them. American cities and towns would be greatly 
benefited by the examples and taste which some of you 
might bring w^ith you. Here is a great civic opportunity, 
especially opened to every real-estate genius, of whom 
there are many among the new Americans. 

Of course you know that, in order to build a house in 
the city, you must first submit a plan and procure a per- 
mit. Your plan is then examined to make sure that your 
house will be safe and solid. The building department of 
some cities go further and insist that it should be pleas- 
ing to the eye if not beautiful. True lines, a well-lighted 
entrance, decoration in the brickwork or woodwork, or 
at least in the window sashes, or a little balcony, will 
make a house especially pleasing to look at. Very few 



114 CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 

cities are being developed in accord with the general 
plan with which they started out. Philadelphia and 
Washington have recently attempted to go back to the 
plans first outlined for them in their early days. The 
older cities which have gone through the village and 
town stages are now forced to plan ahead in order to 
avoid the mistakes of their past, such as narrow streets, 
poor connections between various districts, and mixed 
styles of houses and buildings. 

Questions 

In what ways can the builder, owner, or tenant of a house pro- 
mote both the value and beauty of his property? 
What is the real object of the building department? 

Lesson VII — City Planning Boards 

The older cities are organizing planning boards whose 
object is to guide the future development of the city. 
These boards recommend the general style of homes for 
different districts. They suggest special places for parks 
and breathing-spaces. They plan charming landscape 
effects by planting trees for shade and beauty. In va- 
rious ways they lessen nuisances: unnecessary street 
noises, street obstructions, such as telephone and trolley 
posts, and smoke annoyance. Wherever possible they 
build tunnels and subways, not only for rapid transit, 
but in order to rid the city of dangerous and unsightly 
elevated and trolley lines. The new Americans can 
accomplish much by cooperating with such planning 
boards. These boards are made up of architects, real- 



CITY PLANNING BOARDS 



115 



estate experts, city officials, and other public-spirited 
citizens who can forecast the future growth of the city. 
Their judgment is good. Some of the recent Western 
cities have started out with a plan and are developing 
it as they proceed. Moreover, they strongly believe in 
their future, and are therefore planning far ahead for 
a population many times larger than the present. These 
young Western cities, because of their wise planning, 




A NEGLECTED -POT 



will not be forced to spend a million dollars to tear 
down a block of tenements in order to give the people 
a chance to breathe fresh air. Such cities are a splen- 
did tribute to the intelligence of the new Americans, 
as well as the older Americans with whom they are 
w^orking hand in hand for the development of a bigger, 
better, and more beautiful country. 

You are doubtless thinking now of the question of 
expense, which all practical real-estate people consider 



116 



CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 



first. You are saying to yourself that these new ideas 
are expensive. They are, but they pay. Model tene- 
ments pay better than cheap tenements. The largest 
cities are now beginning to build modern tenements, 
and they have proved successful experiments. You 
can build tenements yourself which will be a credit to 
the city, and which will earn money for you. You can 
apply the idea of city planning to your own neighbor- 




THE SAME SPOT TRANSFORMED INTO A BOULEVARD 



hood. Plan first and then build. If you are opening up 
a new district, your plan will save you money, and per- 
haps trouble later on. If you are rebuilding old houses, 
you can add to the beauty of a neighborhood by follow- 
ing out a plan which will harmonize more or less with 
the style of the adjacent property. Even if you are 
remodeling a single family house into a two-family 
house, it will pay you to consult an architect as well as 
a builder. During the first month or so you will save his 



THE CITY BEAUTIFUL 117 

fee because the plan will attract tenants, and make it 
possible for you to secure a higher rent. Finally, build- 
ing in this civic spirit will make you feel that you are 
doing what you can to cooperate with the city planning 
board and other organizations to make the city of your 
adoption a ''city beautiful." 

Questions 

How can a city plan its future? 

How can you foretell the growth of the city twenty years ahead? 

If you were a member of a city planning board, what ideas would 
you like to carry out? 

How would you get your fellow citizens to cooperate? 

Do you believe in laws against wooden buildings in crowded dis- 
tricts? 

Would you be w^illing to pay a little higher rent for a better 
home? 

What day of the week do women feel most strongly about the 
smoke nuisance? 

What should they do about it? 

Lesson VIII — The City Beautiful 

What is the city beautiful? The city beautiful is two- 
fold ; it is a city that should have an inner and an outer 
beauty. It should have external harmony, which means 
an ideal grouping of public buildings at one civic center, 
broad streets and boulevards connecting with the park 
system and parkways, model government buildings, 
school buildings, police and fire stations built harmoni- 
ously and in keeping with the needs of the city. Wher- 
ever one walks the convenience and comfort of the 
pedestrian have been considered; tree planting and land- 



118 CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 

scape gardening add a grace and charm, and the monot- 
ony of the long streets is broken by bubbhng fountains 
and statues which catch the eye and satisfy the sense 
of good taste. If a water-front hes along the city, it is 
made into a park for the benefit of the people, and small 
playgrounds and breathing-places are set aside in the 
crowded districts also. Vacant lots belonging to the city 
are turned over to the people for gardens, and through 
the long summer months roof -gardens invite the con- 
gested population up into the fresher air. 

But this is not all. The city beautiful must possess an 
inner beauty which shall consist of strong men and fine 
women whose faith and courage will make them able to 
serve themselves and others. They must be tender- 
hearted in their thoughts toward little children, and the 
aged and infirm. They must make laws to combat those 
who are self-seekers and ofiice-holders who would betray 
trusts or take bribes. This inner beauty must show itself 
in a government of the people and for the people, by a 
people who have sane and tested ideas of government, 
of industry, of education, and of art. Above all it must 
consist of families united in love and loyalty whose 
ideals of the home are pure and exalted. No city can be 
truly beautiful unless it attains to this inner character. 

Questions 

Is our city beautiful? 

Has this city both the inward beauty of character and the out- 
ward beauty of fine streets and handsome buildings? 

What ideals can people from foreign countries offer to American 
city life? 



THE CITY BEAUTIFUL 119 

In how far have foreigners been able to carry out these ideals? 

It was a Frenchman who planned the city beautiful for Washing- 
ton — do you know of other foreigners who have been famous lead- 
ers in city building? 



CHAPTER VII 

CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Lesson I — Citizenship 

On reaching the United States people from foreign 
countries are almost always interested in the freedom 
with which people may come and go about their work 
or recreation, so long as they do not interfere with the 
rights of others. Immediately the newcomer is surprised 
to find that if persons have secured a ''permit" from the 
city oflScials, they, together with groups of other men, 
may collect in open spaces or parks to hold meetings, 
and that no one interferes with them, if they in turn 
interfere with no one. This is because one of the privi- 
leges of citizenship in this country lies in the freedom to 
assemble. In the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of 
the United States, you will find that we have many 
privileges and rights that are not granted by European 
Governments. Every one may attend any church or no 
church without being rebuked. Groups of persons may 
march to the Mayor's office or to the State House where 
the Governor has his office and demand redress, if they 
think they are entitled to such redress. Or they may 
ask for aid when they are in distress. They may express 
their dissatisfaction with social, political, or industrial 
conditions through the press of the country, or from 
public platforms. If a person has committed a crime, 
or is thought to have committed a crime, he may have 



CITIZENSHIP 121 

trial by jury and a speedy trial. Moreover, he is not 
judged guilty until proved so by court proceedings. In 
this country if a man has been proved guilty of a crime 
or misdemeanor, his family and his property do not 
suffer the consequences. Nothing is confiscated, nor 
does the disgrace fall upon the innocent members of the 
household. 

In order to understand who are citizens, we may read 
the Fourteenth Amendment of our Federal Constitu- 
tion: ''All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citi- 
zens of the United States and of the State wherein they 
reside." You will see that citizenship is a privilege 
which attaches to men, women, and little children. 
Since the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution 
was drawn up we have annexed territory, as in Porto 
Rico and the Philippines. The question of citizenship in 
these territories w as left for settlement by act of Con- 
gress; but so far Congress has not seen fit to give full 
American citizenship to the people of the Philippines. 
Heretofore, when territory was annexed to the United 
States, citizenship was acquired through treaties. Thus 
the foreigners who resided in Louisiana and Florida, 
and in New Mexico and California, became citizens of 
the United States as these territories were transferred 
from their mother countries to us. 

Citizens may or may not be voters. They may or may 
not be subject to military service. But each and every 
one who has the rights of citizenship has equal privileges 
— liberty, justice, and protection. 



122 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

The rights of citizenship are twofold, because they are 
not only embodied in the first ten amendments to the 
Constitution of the United States, but they are found 
in each of the constitutions of the forty -eight States, 

If a person is a citizen of the United States, he not 
only is entitled to the protection which it gives him, 
but he in turn owes something to his country. First of 
all, he owes it his allegiance. Not only in times of war 
but at all times, he should be ready to uphold the honor 
of his country and to cooperate in enforcing the laws. 
A citizen should be willing to serve on the jury or as a 
witness. He should be ready to serve the State, when 
needed, as a member of the National Guard. If suffrage 
has been extended to him, the most important obliga- 
tion follows — that of an honest vote. 

Questions 

Have you been called to serve in the militia? 

What benefits follow from this service to the individual as well 
as to the country? 

Have you served on a jury? 

Do you feel the importance of the honest vote? 

Do you teach your boys the importance of suffrage? 

What common interests do boys and girls have that will fit them 
to take a part in service for their country when called upon later in 
life? 

Lesson II — How to become a Citizen 

The alien is made a citizen by a process of law; this 
is called naturalization. Naturalization is not the right 
of all races; no alien Mongolian, no Chinese, can be 



HOW TO BECOME A CITIZEN 



123 



naturalized in the United States; and no member of 
our own Indian tribes can get citizenship by naturahza- 
tion. The method of naturahzation prescribed by Con- 
gress requires a minimum residence in this country of 
five years. All immigrants who wish to become citizens 
should file their first papers, or ^'declarations of in- 
tention/' as early as possible, because it takes five years 
of American residence before an alien is at liberty to file 
his second paper. Therefore, he should take out his first 
papers during the first two years of his residence. In 




TAKIXG OUT CITIZENS' PAPERS 



other words, he must declare on oath that it is his in- 
tention to become a citizen of the United States, and to 
renounce forever his allegiance to the foreign country 
of which he is a subject or citizen. If an alien delays 
getting his first paper more than three years after his 
arrival, it is impossible for him to become a citizen at 
the end of the first five years of his residence in the 
country. If he delays seven years after taking out his 
first paper before acquiring the second paper, the first 
paper is void, and he must declare his intention over 
again. (See pages 151 to 173.) 

Any United States court, and certain state and muni- 



IM 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



cipal courts, have the right to administer the oath of 
naturahzation. AHens who have come here since 1906 
must show a certificate of arrival. In order to obtain 
this certificate it is necessary to write to the Immigra- 
tion Department at Washington, D.C. This certificate 
costs nothing. The first paper — ''declaration of inten- 




TAKING THE OATH OF NATURALIZATION 

tion'' — costs one dollar; and the second paper, the 
petition for full citizenship, costs four dollars. 

Many new Americans wish to change their names, 
especially when their names are difficult to pronounce 
and contain many syllables. The change can be made 
without extra charge when filing the second papers, 
provided the judge is satisfied that the change is not 
made in order to escape punishment for any past offense. 
Before one is finally sworn in as a citizen of the United 
States, one must be able to read and write a little and 
answer some such questions as the following: — 

What does citizenship mean? 

What are the advantages of becoming a citizen ? 



ALIENS 125 

What does citizenship mean to women where they have a right 
to vote? 

Does the protection of citizenship mean anything to women 
where they have no vote? 

In what sense are minors or aliens citizens, — that is, what rights 
and duties do they have in common with citizens? 

What groups of people may not be counted as citizens? 

Mention the civil rights guaranteed by the State, by the Nation? 

Can you mention a right which does not create a duty? 

What are ''inalienable rights" according to the Declaration of 
Independence ? 

Does the President of the United States enjoy greater privileges 
than the average citizen? 

Do you know whether your neighbors are all citizens? 

How can you help them to become citizens? 

When can a citizen exercise the rights of a citizen? 

Lesson III — Aliens 

Besides the citizens of the United States who are 
native-born or naturahzed, or annexed, as in the case of 
the Porto Ricans, and the Hawaiians, there are thou- 
sands of people who have never asked for citizenship. 
So long as they fail to qualify for American citizen- 
ship they are called ^'aliens/' Those who have lived 
away from their own country long enough to have lost 
their rights to protection by their native country, and 
have neglected American citizenship for their protec- 
tion from any other power, have only themselves to 
blame. 

In American law an alien is a person born of foreign 
parents in a foreign country who has not been natural- 



126 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

ized in the United States. There are rights and disabiH- 
ties of ahens. There are the so-called ''alien friends/' 
who have the same personal rights as an American citi- 
zen during times of peace. Although they receive no 
political or voting privileges, they have the right to 
dwell safely in the country, and the right of protection 
to person, reputation, and personal property. A statute 
cannot impose any duties upon an alien, but it may con- 
fer rights upon him. The alien may acquire personal 
property left to him in a will. If an alien dies, his chil- 
dren, even if born abroad, may inherit all his personal 
property if left to them by a will, or they may acquire it 
as natural heirs. In most of our States under statute 
law ''alien friends" may own or acquire or inherit or 
sell land as if they were American citizens. They may 
also sue and be sued in our courts with the same process 
of law as is available to a citizen. 

Questions 

What is the meaning of the word ''ahen"? 
How does a foreign war affect the ahens in the United States? 
What is a neutral nation? 
When is a person neutral? 
Who are reservists? 

Do reservists lose their privileges in the United States because of 
active service in their mother country? 

Lesson IV — Immigration 

Many new Americans sooner or later send for their 
friends or families in the old country to join them in the 
new. It is therefore important that the new Americans 



IMMIGRATION 



127 



understand our immigration laws which will allow for- 
eigners to enter or which may keep them out. 

There are at least five specified causes for deporting 
an immigrant. The most important refers to diseases. 
One of the most seri- 
ous causes for depor- Volume of Immig^tion 
. .. . . ,. INTO THE United States 

tatlOn IS tne disease (indicated by the Wack^hadm^) 

called trachoma, an 
acute trouble with the 
eyes. Then again no 
one is admitted who 
is likely to become a 
public charge, or who 
has a criminal record, 
or who comes under 
contract to work. 

Before sending your 
friends tickets to come 
to this country, make 
sure that they are not 
likely to fall into any 
of these classes of per- 
sons who may be de- 
ported. The Immigra- 
tion Department at 
Washington will send 
you free a pamphlet on immigration laws. Many immi- 
grants, upon the advice of some agents abroad who mis- 
represent the facts in this country, arrive at our wharves 
only to find themselves in serious trouble. Moreover, 



Years 
1776-1820 

CEstimated) 






















Immigrants 
238,385 


1821-30 






















143,439 


1831-40 










11 










599,125 


IMl-^O 


















1,713,251 


1851-60 










1 










2,^71,060 


1861-70 


















2,317,279 


1871-80 
















2,812,191 


1881-90 












5.246,613 


1891-00 
















3,687564 


1901-10 


II 


1 




8,795.586 


1911-20 




1 




1 


1 


1 


1 






5,735.811 * 



^/^/ 33,880,104 

S^ccsed on dnnaal 'Repott^ 
Com m ission e x Genet al of <^7nmi^zatcoTz 



128 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



even if at the outset they are allowed to enter, there are 
laws by which they may be deported within three years 
if the Government finds cause for deportation. 

Every immigrant, for his own sake, ought to know 

Two Main Sources of 
Immigration from Europe 



KEY 



NORTNk^E'ST EUROPE 
^OUmEAST EUROPE 
ALL OTEER PARTS 




tJ8cised o/z CZnnual Repents 
CoiTimissionet CenehaCofO/nmigta Cion 

how this country feels about immigration. It is a favor- 
ite topic for discussion. Some argue that this country 
still has plenty of room for desirable immigrants, pro- 



IMMIGRATION 129 

vided they are properly distributed throughout the 
forty-eight States. Immigrants are beginning to appre- 
ciate that there are more opportunities for them in the 
West than in the East; that there are more chances in 
the agricultural fields of the great Western States than 
in the industrial situation along the east coast. Those 
who are wisely distributing themselves, therefore, in 
colonies away from the trade centers are making it 
possible for their parents and brothers and sisters to find 
a home in the "promised land." There are free state 
employment bureaus as well as the Immigration De- 
partment at Washington which are ready with informa- 
tion and advice to immigrants who desire to settle in 
the Far West. There are many immigrant societies in 
the different States, ready to give assistance both with 
advice and money. They often help the immigrant to 
join friends who have migrated across the country, and 
especially during the difficult stages of arriving and 
founding a home and finding business. These societies 
are invaluable. 

Questions 

What is the difference in the meaning of the words "immigrant" 
and "emigrant"? 

Does the idea of deportation interfere with the principle of per- 
sonal Hberty? 

How can the United States avoid the need of deporting so many 
foreigners ? 

How can deportation be avoided by the immigrant? 

How did the World War affect Immigration? 

What is the present Immigration law? 

What is the Literacy test? 



130 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



Lesson V — The Immigrant and Private Agencies 

At all the great ports there are agencies working 
through groups of persons representing different races 
or different religions. For instance, there is the Hebrew 
Immigrant Aid Society, and the Polish Immigration 
Society, and the Bethany Danish Lutheran Church, and 




Conrtesxj, Tenement- House Department, New York 
A CONGESTED TENEMENT-HOUSE SECTION 



SO on. These private societies mean to do good work and 
often protect the immigrant from his own ignorance of 
the language and the law. They try to protect the immi- 
grant from the lawless and fraudulent representatives 
of boarding-houses and illegal banks. These banks and 
boarding-houses send runners and illegal lawyers and 



THE IMMIGRANT IN BUSINESS 



131 



interpreters to the docks to meet such foreigners who 
have been disappointed at not finding their friends there. 
It is impossible for these immigrants to judge whether 
these interpreters and lawyers are trustworthy, but in 
almost all cases representatives of the private agencies 
are ready to serve them honestly and efficiently. 

Questions 

What was your experience at the port when you came to this 
country? 

Have any private agencies in this town or city helped you in 
such a way that you can recommend them to other immigrants 
coming to America ? 

Lesson VI — The Immigrant in Business 




THE OPEN COUNTRY 



To be successful in business the foreigner must first 
learn the language so that he will understand its many 



132 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

meanings. He must also learn to understand the people 
in the locality in which he opens his trade. It is a great 
mistake to open a place of business too early in the for- 
eigner's experience in an American city. At the outset, 
if the immigrant has brought his family with him, his 
wife and the older children will work also in order to put 
together their earnings, by which they may accumulate 





THE FAK]MER AT \yOPwK 



a fund for the purchase of a business — a fruit or candy 
stand, or a little shop. Many recent immigrants have 
established themselves in business in this way. In fact 
the number of foreign-born persons engaged in trade is 
steadily increasing. On the other hand, many immi- 
grants who began to work in a factory and then extended 
their interests into individual trades in the city finally 



LAWS OF THE LAND 133 

have discovered that a still greater opportunity lay in 
the country. They have realized the great advantage 
to one's health which results in living out of doors. 
Farming and market-dairying offer profitable work to 
the Europeans who have come from farms abroad. 
There is need of the foreign-born citizen in the country 
as well as in the great cities. 

Questions 

Is the foreigner handicapped in business? 
Is he ever at an advantage? 

How does the knowledge of a foreign language help him? 
Does the knowledge of the way business is carried on in foreign 
countries help him in building up a business in this country? 

Lesson VTI — Laws of the Land 

People in America are not under the constant police 
inspection which exists in some European countries. In 
the United States we may move freely from place to 
place without passports, and without officially register- 
ing in every new city and town. Yet in some of the 
countries of Europe this is necessary. The reason for 
this freedom which we as a people enjoy is this: that we 
are all deemed innocent and lawabiding until we are 
proved otherwise. In other words, it is believed that we 
keep the laws and that we do not intend to break them. 
It is very important for the newcomer to know these 
laws in order that he may not break them through igno- 
rance, because in law ignorance is no excuse. The Decla- 
ration of Independence states that all people have a 



134 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and 
the United States Constitution guarantees to every 
person these same rights. The duty of each and every 
person is to see to it that he does not in any way inter- 
fere with the rights of some one else. 

The laws most important for immigrants are those 
relating to public morals, public health, industry, and 
education. The public morals include the questions 
of marriage, desertion, divorce, gambling, temperance, 
and social habits. The various States differ in their 
laws. It is well for the newcomer to acquaint himself 
with what is forbidden by law in the State in which he 
lives. 

We have already discussed the laws, or at least some 
of them, concerning public health, and we have spoken 
of the regulation of labor. In many States labor legisla- 
tion has gone a long way to protect the employee from 
damage to life or limb. It has also undertaken to pre- 
vent the employment of women and children in occu- 
pations which menace health; and also to prevent the em- 
ployment of young children in mills and other places 
where formerly the law did not interfere. 

One of the most serious problems of society is what to 
do with the people poorly equipped in body and charac- 
ter. Some parents do not understand health laws, food 
values, and the need of education. Because of this, laws 
have been passed to protect children, so that children 
who are weak and under-nourished shall not grow into 
adults who must be cared for by the State at public cost. 
Our State Governments need further to protect the 



THE LAW OF CONSCIENCE 135 

welfare of growing children. When all the children have 
had their rights to ''life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness," we shall have a better generation of citi- 
zens. The immigrant needs to think about these laws 
which should be made to protect children and women. 
Coming from foreign countries where they have lived in 
the agricultural districts, health has not been a matter 
of so great concern. The laws of this land should be 
made to protect society from delicate mothers and sick 
children and worn-out adults. This may be met by 
future legislation preventing the causes that have in 
past years produced these conditions. 

Questions 

What different nationalities live in your community? 

Do many of the children of these foreign people seem to think 
of race prejudice, or do they all go to school together and play 
together and forget their national differences? 

In times of war or great affliction by fire or flood would race 
prejudice be remembered? 

Does America offer a splendid opportunity for personal serv- 
ices? 

Lesson VIII — The Law of Conscience 

It is impossible for you to learn all the laws of a new 
country at once, but there are laws which are important. 
Above all, the so-called unwritten law of your conscience, 
— the still, small voice within you which proclaims you 
right or wrong independent of law. This unwritten law 
will guide you in your everyday life. There is no law 



136 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

about being a good neighbor; there is no law against 
hurting another man's feelings; yet your common sense 
will tell you how short-lived this country would be if the 
sixty and more races living here together did not try to 
live peaceably with one another. Italians and Jews liv- 
ing in the same crowded districts learn to consider one 
another and to grow friendly. 

Again there is no law which compels a newcomer to 
serve in the American army. The European nations 
demand a service from their citizens. Yet it is an un- 
written law that you will render service at the country's 
call when a volunteer army is required. People from 
races all over the world living in the United States have 
given without being asked splendid service to their new 
country at times of great crises. Not only during wars, 
but at the time of great fires, famines, and flood, new 
and old Americans alike offer themselves for service. 

Questions 

What is unwritten law? 

Is the unwritten law of this country like the unwritten law of 
your mother country? 

How does the unwritten law influence the conduct of nations? 

Which is older, written or unwritten law? 

Is family life regulated by written law or unwritten law? 

Who make the laws of the United States? 

Who make those called state laws? 

Who make the city laws and city ordinances? 

Why is it fair to enforce the laws of a community and country 
upon aliens as well as upon citizens? 

Mention a law or laws enacted in the South which do not exist 
in the North. 



THE JURY 137 

Do these different state laws interfere with the laws of the 
United States? 

Are laws for the special benefit of working people in the nature of 
special privileges? 

In some States the eight-hour law for women in industry has 
been upheld; in other States it has not been upheld. Can you tell 
why? 

Lesson IX — The Jury 

One of the great privileges of an American is to be 
chosen to serve on the jury. When such a call comes 
to you, you are obliged to accept. You should be glad 
of the opportunity. The experience will be very valu- 
able to you. There is no better way of understanding 
the practical working of the laws of this country than 
by serving on either the grand jury or the petty jury. 
This privilege, however, carries with it serious responsi- 
bilities. You are obliged to pass judgment which may 
and often does affect a person's entire future. Indeed, it 
may be a death sentence. Again, — and this is not an 
easy thing for any one to do, — you are compelled to 
dismiss absolutely all prejudice. A prejudice for or 
against an accused person is, if discovered, sufficient 
reason for you to be excluded from a jury. This rule is 
made to insure a fair trial of every case. Above all, you 
must be honest — honest with yourself and square with 
your conscience, not merely because perjury is a crime, 
but because honesty is the foundation of the jury sys- 
tem. The jury system is the strongest characteristic of 
the Anglo-Saxon people expressed in American govern- 
ment. 



138 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Questions 

The words *' jury " and ''justice" come from the same root — do 
you see the connection? 

What can any one do to get a chance of serving on a jury? 

What can any one do to be excused from serving on a jury if he 
finds he must? 

What type of man should always be chosen to serve on a jury? 

Lesson X — The Government of the Nation 

In studying the government of our country we find a 
twofold relationship. On the one hand, there are forty- 
eight States which make up the Union. This Union 
would not be possible without the States. Yet again, 
the States are but parts of the Union, and they have no 
existence except as parts of the United States. Because 
of this relationship, the immigrant must study carefully 
these two great divisions in our government: first the 
National Government, and second the system of State 
Governments. As it is impossible to examine each of 
the separate States, the newcomer will need to turn for 
advice to local authorities who know what the Govern- 
ment consists of in the State in which he has settled. 
But it is possible to look at the Federal Government and 
study its important methods of lawmaking and its exe- 
cution. Our Federal Government makes the national 
laws and sees to it that they are enforced. All the laws 
made by the States must agree with the national laws. 
These national laws are made in Congress at Washington 
in the District of Columbia. Congress, or the Legisla- 
tive Department, is made up of a body of men who have 



THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 139 

been chosen as representatives of the people. The States 
each send two Senators and a number of Representatives 
dependent upon the population according to the latest 
census. Besides Congress the Federal Government has 
an Executive Department which consists of a president 
and a vice-president, and a Judicial Department. The 



.^- 







THE CAPITOL OF THE UNITED STATES, AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 

Supreme Court of the United States interprets the 
law. These three divisions of our National Government 
find their authority in the Constitution of the United 
States. The Constitution was drawn up in 1787, and 
it has proved an admirable working frame of govern- 
ment because to no one department has too much power 
been given. The Constitution of the United States 
grants to Congress (the lawmaking body) immense 



140 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

power, but this power may be checked by the President 
whose veto is final unless Congress is so nearly unani- 
mous that by a two-thirds majority it can pass a law 
over the President's veto. Again, laws made by Con- 
gress and signed by the Executive may be found uncon- 
stitutional by the decision of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. 

More important, however, to the public, and espe- 
cially to the newcomer from foreign countries, are the 
manifold activities which the Government of the United 
States carries on. The President has throughout the 
history of the country found it necessary to call together 
a group of men who are appointed to special work as 
^'Secretaries." They sit together in a council which is 
called a ^'Cabinet." They are appointed by the Presi- 
dent, with the approval of the Senate, and their titles are 
as follows : Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, Secretary of V^ar, Secretary of the Navy, Post- 
master-General, Secretary of the Interior, Attorney- 
General, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Com- 
merce, and Secretary of Labor. The work of the ten 
departments which we have named is divided among 
subordinate branches of the departments called ^'bu- 
reaus." These bureaus carry on the special work which 
belongs to each department as a whole. Immigrants 
are generally much interested in the Bureau of Immi- 
gration, and its very great service to new Americans. 
Many foreigners who wish to live on farms can be most 
helpfully served by keeping in touch with the docu- 
ments sent out from the Department of Agriculture. 



THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION 141 

Every day every one benefits by the work of the Weather 
Bureau, and every day we are indebted to the Post- 
Oflfice service. Many people are drawing money from 
the Pension Office, while nearly every one is better off 
because of the Bureau of Pure Foods. It is well to know 
something of the machinery of the Government, but it is 
much more important to be intelligent concerning the 
actual work done by the Government for the good of 
citizens of the United States. 

Questions 

Who is the President? 

Who is the Vice-President? 

Who is the Secretary of State? 

Who are the United States Senators sent from this State? 

Who is the Congressman sent from this district? 

What special interests have been brought before the notice of 
Congress by this Congressman? 

What special state interests have been presented by the Senators? 

There are ten departments of government which carry out the 
work of the United States Government? Which of these depart- 
ments interests you most? Why? 

Which bureau notifies us in regard to the money market? The 
commerce of other nations? The conditions on our coast? The 
weather? Mines? Waterways? Postal service? Pure foods? Pure 
drugs? 

Which department offers the best opportunity for learning Eng- 
lish, for learning a trade, for becoming a citizen, and for providing 
the cost of living when in exchange the person gives his service to 
the country? 



142 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



Lesson XI — Political Parties 



In the United States groups of voters form what are 
called political parties. These political parties have 
built up the machinery of government. Federal and 
state constitutions and statutes form the legal founda- 




VOTERS AT THE POLLS 



tion of government, but the legal provisions would not 
be expressed if there were no agencies which could set 
forth the will of the people. Some important functions 
or lines of work are carried out by political parties. 
First, they are the agencies by which political campaigns 
are conducted. Then through their machinery they 
enable the party voter to cast his ballot for the candi- 
dates of his own political faith. This party faith is set 



POLITICAL PARTIES 143 

forth by the various party committees who agree upon 
what is called a party platform. This party platform 
sets forth principles of the party which may be approved 
or rejected by the voters. 

The two leading parties are the Republican and the 
Democratic. The Republican Party has maintained in 
its platform the principle of a protective tariff and a 
strong federal government. The Democratic Party, on 
the contrary, has been the champion of state rights and 
of the strict interpretation of the Constitution. It has 
therefore opposed the protective tariff. 

Besides the two leading parties, many minor parties 
have been formed from time to time. The Prohibition 
Party was the oldest. Its aim was to secure the sup- 
pression of the liquor traffic, and its work helped to 
bring about the enactment of the eighteenth amend- 
ment to the Constitution. The Socialist Party has 
had great influence in local communities and has done 
much to improve industrial conditions in certain cen- 
ters. The Progressive Party, which stood for the over- 
throw of machine government, came into being at a 
time when men and women all over the United States 
felt that the people of a democracy should be more 
closely in touch with the actual proceedings of govern- 
ment. This party served its purpose and has now 
passed out of existence. Among the ideas of the Pro- 
gressive Party which have been adopted by one or the 
other of the large parties are direct primaries, the recall, 
the referendum, woman suffrage, human conservation, 
and conservation of natural resources. 



144 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

These minor political parties have never yet elected 
a President, but they have from time to time sent mem- 
bers to Congress, both as Representatives and Senators. 
These parties stand for important principles in our 
national life to which the public have rallied. National 
leaders have presented these principles at conventions. 

In State Governments the same political parties are 
usually represented. But as States differ because of 
differences in the economic and social conditions the 
planks in a political platform upon state matters vary 
widely. Some States are agricultural, others commercial, 
and still others industrial in their interests. In munici- 
pal governments purely local issues have become more 
important than party affiliation. Gradually people are 
beginning to believe that local issues are best served by 
a movement of the people who rally to the immediate 
need for the general good. For example, an honest 
health department, which serves the immediate interest 
of the locality, has nothing to do with the principles of 
high or low tariff, and therefore the personnel of such a 
board should be made up of men who are honest citizens 
without reference to their political creeds. 

Questions 

Are there political parties in your mother country? 

To which did you or your family belong? 

Which political party do you prefer in this country? 

Is a man who votes for one party in national politics and for a 
different party in state politics inconsistent? 

Why should the government of a city or town be in no way con- 
nected with party politics? 



CIVIL SERVICE 145 

Should a policeman or a fireman be in any way connected with 
one of the great national parties? 

Lesson XII — Civil Service 

You may be surprised to learn that there are over 
one-half million persons working for the Federal Gov- 
ernment of the United States. These employees range 
in scope from foreign ministers and ambassadors down 
to laborers who work on the national public roads. 
There are professional and scientific positions based on 
examinations in some cases, but for the most part based 
upon the merit system. The President has great power, 
either directly or indirectly, over the appointment and 
discharge of these national employees. Because of this 
great power the so-called " Civil Service Reform " move- 
ment has brought about civil-service examination. By 
passing examinations which are held in every State and 
Territory at least twice a year, a man may enter the 
federal or state civil service and hold his position with- 
out interference from political parties. Clerkships in 
the civil service of cities in the States offer good salaries 
and pleasing work. The new American citizen should do 
all in his power to become educated enough to pass the 
civil-service examinations. One can serve his city or 
State as well by honest service in the civil government 
as by promising to die for his country if necessary in 
time of war. 

Questions 

What does civil mean? 
What does civil service mean? 



146 CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

Name the different types of civil service? 

Name the three divisions of government which offer civil service? 

What civil-service positions require first papers? — Second 
papers? 

What is the advantage of civil service to the government em- 
ployee? 

What is the disadvantage of civil service? 

Suppose the better applicant for a civil-service position cannot 
meet the technical requirements, what often occurs? 

Who appoints and removes employees in government work? — 
For the city? — For the state? — For the nation? 

How do you apply for a pension if you are a government em- 
ployee? 

How do you bid for government contract? 

Are such bids under civil-service rules? 

Lesson XIII — The Citizen's Opportunity 

One of the leading American authors has said that 
^'America is another word for opportunity." Immi- 
grants, especially, understand the truth of this statement. 
Many of them have come from countries in which there 
was no opportunity for them to educate themselves or 
their children, no opportunity to set up their own busi- 
ness, and no opportunity for them to take any part 
whatever in government. But these people have always 
heard of America as a country where every citizen was 
free to do each of these things. 

Now one of the largest opportunities which America 
offers her citizens is the privilege of taking a share in 
the government. Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest 
Presidents, said that ours was a government ''of the 
people, by the people, and for the people." The only 



THE CITIZEN'S OPPORTUNITY 147 

way to maintain it as such is for every citizen to take an 
active and constant interest in the government. You 
are given a great privilege when you are allowed to vote. 
As a newly enrolled voter, you go to the polls with eager- 
ness. It is your duty as a citizen never to lose that 
feeling of eagerness. Unfortunately it is true that from 
habits of laziness, or indifference upon public questions, 
some citizens fail to do their duty as voters. Their first 
interest does not endure, and they stay at home when 
they ought to go to the polls and vote. One of the most 
important lessons that you can learn is the power of 
the ballot. Upon every public question, first be sure you 
are right; and then, vote. Only by intelligent and hon- 
est interest in these matters can you do your part in 
maintaining America as the land of opportunity. 






'THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER' 



<, 



^ 



^ 



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V 



APPENDIX 



CONTENTS OF APPENDIX 

I. How TO BECOME A CiTIZEN OF THE UnITED StATES . , .151 

II. Preparation for Citizenship . 168 

III. A Club Constitution 170 

IV. Form of a Petition c . 172 

V. A Final Word to New Americans . . o » o o o » . 174 

VI. Two National Anthems . . . o • « • . o o » o o 176 



APPENDIX 

I. HOW TO BECOME A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED 

STATES 1 

WHO MAY BECOME CITIZENS 

1. Race 

Only white persons or persons of African birth or de- 
scent may become citizens. Others, such as Chinese, are 
excluded. 

2. Belief 

No person may become a citizen who is a polygamist 
or an anarchist or who belongs to any organization 
teaching disbelief in or opposition to organized govern- 
ment. 

3. Minor Children 

Minor children of a naturalized citizen themselves 
become citizens, at the time of their parent's naturali- 
zation, if they are then living in the United States. Other- 
wise they become citizens when they begin to live per- 
manently in the United States. 

HOW TO MAKE APPLICATION 

" First Papers " 

The applicant, who must be over eighteen years 
of age, must first declare his intention to become a 
citizen, in other words, take out " J^irst Papers." This 
should be done in the following manner : — 
1. He must apply to the Clerk of the United States 
District Court for his district or of his own County 

^ This section describes in detail the formalities outlined in Chapter VII, Les* 
son II, page 122, 



152 



APPENDIX 



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APPENDIX 153 

Court for a blank form called, " Facts for Declaration 
of Intention," (See page 152.) 

2. He may fill out this blank himself or get some one 
else to do so for him. 

3. He must, within a reasonable time, take the blank, 
with One Dollar, to the Clerk of the same court who 
will fill out and give him a certificate to keep. This 
is his Declaration of Intention or First Papers. 

WHERE TO APPLY FOR FIRST PAPERS 

1. At the United States District Court. 

2. Or at the Superior Court, in the Court-House, of 
his own county. 

" Second Papers " (See pages 154-155.) 

The applicant must then wait at least Two Years 
before Second Papers can be taken out. He must also 
meet the following conditions : — 

1. His application for Second Papers must be made 
within seven years from the date of his First Papers, 
otherwise his First Papers will be void and others will 
have to be taken out again before he can take out 
Second Papers. 

2. He must be able to speak English (if physically able 
to do so). 

3. He must be able to sign his own name. 

4. He must have lived continuously in the United 
States for at least Five Years immediately preceding 
his application. 

5. He must also have lived at least One Year in the 
State where he applies for Naturalization. 

Petition for Naturalization 

After Two Years have passed from date of taking 
his first paper, the applicant may file a Petition for 
Naturalization (or take out Second Papers), as fol- 
lows: — 



154 



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156 APPENDIX 

1. He must go with his First Papers to the Clerk of one 
of the Courts specified above, though not necessarily 
the same court to which he went before. 

If he came to the United States before June 29, 
1906, he should apply for a blank form called, '' Facts 
for Petition for Naturalization." This paper should 
be filled out„ and returned to the Clerk with Four 
Dollars. Or, if he came into the United States after 
June 29, 1906, he should apply for a blank form 
called, " Request for Certificate of Arrival.'' (See 
pages 157-158.) This paper should be filled out and 
mailed to Washington according to directions given. 
Then the applicant must wait until notified by the 
Clerk to appear. When so notified he should go to 
the Court with Four Dollars. 

2. In either of above cases when the applicant returns 
to court he must bring with him Two Witnesses. 
They must be citizens of the United States and if 
naturalized should bring their Certificates with them. 

These Witnesses must make affidavit that they 
have known the applicant to be a resident of the 
United States continuously for at least five years 
next preceding the date of his petition and of the 
State at least one year; that they know he is of 
good moral character and qualified to become a 
citizen. 

If the applicant has not lived in the State long 
enough to get witnesses who have known him five 
years, he may (1) Procure two witnesses who will 
make affidavit that they have known him to be a resi- 
dent of the State for at least one year; and (2) 
Procure, through the Clerk, the Depositions (or 
statements sworn to before a Notary Public, Jus- 
tice of the Peace or Clerk of the Court) of two 
other citizens who have known him the Rest of the 



APPENDIX 



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APPENDIX 159 

necessary five years, in the State where he previously 
lived. 

Caution — Witnesses must be able to state quickly 
where and when they first met the applicant. 

They must be able to account for the entire five 
years of residence without gaps. 
After filing his Petition for Naturalization 

The applicant must wait at least ninety days. Dur- 
ing this time he should 

1. Remain in the United States. 

2. Read the Constitution of the United States, and 
prepare himself to answer such questions as those on 
pages 162-165 on government in the United States. 
Read the ''Important Facts " on pages 166-168. 

3. Make sure that his two witnesses will appear with 
him in Court again. 

If they are sick or absent he may find two others 
who can swear to the same facts, subject to the 
rules of the Court governing the substitution of wit- 
nesses. (The Superior Court requires notice to the 
Clerk ten days before the hearing day.) 

If they refuse to appear he should tell the Clerk 
of the Court, who will compel them to do so. But in 
this case the applicant must first deposit with the 
Clerk a sum of money to cover the legal witness fees. 

4. Appear before the United States Examiner at the 
time and place named in a notice he will receive. 

Hearing 

After ninety days have passed the applicant must 
go, when notified, or on one of the Special Days set for 
hearings by the Court, to the same Court with his two 
witnesses. 

1. The Witnesses must testify as to the applicant's 
residence, moral character and attachment to the 
principles of the Constitution. 



160 APPliNDIX 

2. The applicant will be 

Examined as to his knowledge of Government 
in the United States. 

Required to take oath that he will support and 
defend the Constitution and laws of the United States 
and that he renounces all allegiance to any foreign 
prince or country and to renounce any hereditary 
title he may have borne. 

OATH OF ALLEGIANCE 

The Oath of Allegiance is a sworn statement made in 
open court that the applicant will be loyal to the Con- 
stitution of the United States. 

This oath is as follows : — 

'*I hereby declare on oath, that I absolutely and en- 
tirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to 
any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty and 
particularly to (name of sovereign of country) of whom 
I have heretofore been a subject; that I will support 
and defend the Constitution and Laws of the United 
States of America against all enemies, foreign and do- 
mestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to 
the same." 
Certificate of Citizenship 

When these things have been done to the satisfac- 
tion of the Judge of the Court, the Clerk will write and 
give or mail to applicant the certificate of citizenship. 

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS 

1. Lost Papers 

If papers have been lost, duplicates may be obtained 
by applying to the clerk. But applicant must prove that 
the papers have been lost. 

2. Penalties 

There is a heavy penalty for perjury, securing papers 



APPENDIX 161 

by fraud, or having papers illegally in one's posses- 
sion. 

3. The Applicant may, if he desires, have his name changed 
at the time of his admission to citizenship by application 
to the Court at his final hearing. 

4. The following classes of persons, if over twenty-one 
years of age, may petition for naturalization without 
taking out First Papers : — 

Children of a person who has taken out First Papers, 
but dies before naturalization, who were minors at the 
time of his death. 

An honorably discharged soldier or member of the 
Navy may be naturalized in any Court without lapse of 
time or payment of fees. 

Practically the same thing holds good in regard to 
seamen who have served for three years or more on ves- 
sels of the United States; also to those who have served 
for three years or more in the Marine Corps or Naval 
Auxiliary Service and who may secure an honorable dis- 
charge. However, they must have their first papers, se- 
cure Certificates of Arrival and pay the necessary fee. 

There are certain persons, not naturalized, who had 
resided continuously in the United States for five years 
or more before July 1, 1914, and had supposed, because 
of incorrect information, that they had completed all 
arrangements necessary in order to become citizens or 
believed that they had already become citizens. If they 
were then qualified to become citizens of the United States, 
they may make a special petition for naturahzation, 
without being required to produce first papers. 

INFORMATION FOR APPLICANT AT FINAL HEARING 

An applicant must satisfy the judge that he has a certain 
knowledge of Government. Our Government is what is 
termed a republican form of Government, a form in which 



162 APPENDIX 

the people rule through their chosen representatives, and has 
for its basis the Constitution of the United States. This 
Constitution divides the Government into three branches : 
First, Legislative ; second, Executive ; and third. Judicial. 

The applicant should get a copy of the Constitution and 
study it carefully, so that he can answer questions similar 
to the following, when they are asked by the Judge. 

The Government of the United States 

The Legislative Branch 

Q. What does the Legislative Branch do.^ 

A. It makes the laws for the Country. 

Q. What is the Legislative Branch called? 

A. Congress. 

Q. How is Congress made up.^ 

A. It is made up of two branches, the House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate. 

Q. How is the House of Representatives made up.^^ 

A. Of Representatives elected from each State. Each 
State is divided into congressional districts of prac- 
tically equal population and one member of the House 
of Representatives is elected from each district. 

Q. How are these Representatives elected.^ 

A. By direct vote of the people. The size of each Con- 
gressional District is determined by Congress after 
each National Census. At present it averages a little 
over 200,000 people in each district. 

Q. How long does a Representative hold oflBce.^ 

A. Two years. 

Q. How many Representatives in Congress has this State .^ 

A. luis . 

Q. Who is the Representative from your district.^ 

A. (Applicants should find out their district and name of 
their Cougrcsstnan.) 



APPENDIX 163 

Q. How is the Senate made up? 

A. Of two members from each State, chosen by direct 
vote of the people. 

Q. How long does a Senator hold office? 

A. Six years. 

Q. Who are the Senators from your State? 

A. and {Applicants should know the names 

of Senators from their State,) 

Q. What are members of the House of Representatives 
called? 

A. Congressmen. 

Q. What are members of the Senate called? 

A. Senators. 

Q. What is the presiding officer of the House of Repre- 
sentatives called? 

A. Speaker of the House. 

Q. How is he chosen? 

A. He is elected by the members of the House. 

Q. What is the presiding officer of the Senate called? 

A. President of the Senate. 

Q. How is he chosen? 

A. The Vice-President of the United States is always 
President of the Senate. 

Q. How are laws made by Congress? 

A. After a bill is passed by both houses of Congress, 
it is submitted to the President for his approval. If 
he signs it, it becomes a law; if he takes no action on 
it, it becomes a law after ten days without his signa- 
ture. If he disapproves it, he returns it to the house 
out of which it originated, with his objections. If the 
bill is then passed by two thirds of the members of 
each house, it becomes a law over the President's 
veto. 



164 APPENDIX 

The Executive Branch 

Q. What does the Executive Branch of the Govern- 
ment do? 

A. It executes and enforces the laws. 

Q. Who is in charge of the Executive Branch? 

A. The President of the United States and those who 
are appointed by him for that purpose. 

Q. How is the President elected? 

A. By Presidential electors elected by the people of all 
the States. Each State is entitled to as many elec- 
tors as it has Congressmen and Senators added to- 
gether. 

Q. How long is the President elected for? 

A. Four years. 

Q. Who would become President if the President 
died ? 

A. The Vice-President, who is elected at the same time 
and in the same manner as the President. 

Q. Has the President any control over Congress? 

A. No, except that he can veto any law passed by Con- 
gress, but Congress can pass the law over his veto by 
a two-thirds vote. 

Q. What power has the President? 

A. The power of enforcing the laws of the United States 
through civil officers — the courts and different de- 
partments of the Government and if necessary through 
the Army and Navy; the President is commander in 
chief of the Army and the Navy. 

Q. Who is now the President of the United States? 

A. {The applicant should know the name of the President) 

The Judicial Branch 

Q. What does the Judicial Branch do? 

A. It decides whether or not laws passed by the Legis- 



APPENDIX 165 

lative Branch are in accordance with the Constitution 

and enforces the laws. 
Q. Who is in charge of the Judicial Branch? 
A. The Supreme Court and such lower courts as have 

been established by Congress. 
Q. What is the Supreme Court .^ 
A. Nine judges appointed by the President with the 

consent of the Senate. 
Q. What is the term of office of a Supreme Court judge.^^ 
A. He holds office if he wants to for life or during good 

behavior. 
Q. Where does the President, Congress and the Supreme 

Court sit.f^ 
A. At Washington, District of Columbia, the capital of 

the United States. 

The State Governments 

The United States is made up of forty-eight different 
States, each of which has a separate Government of its 
own. Each State has its own constitution which does not 
conffict in any way with the Constitution of the United 
States. Each State has the same form of Government as 
the United States, comprising a Legislative, an Executive, 
and a Judicial Branch. 

The Legislative Branch is the Legislature, made up of 
the House of Representatives and Senate; the Executive 
Branch is in charge of the Governor, and men he appoints; 
and the Judicial Branch is made up of a Supreme Judicial 
Court and various lower courts. 

Laws are made by the State Legislature for the State 
in a manner very similar to those made by Congress for 
the United States; and the Governor and Lieutenant- 
Governor and members of the State Legislature are elected 
by direct vote of the citizens. 



166 APPENDIX 

Counties, Cities, and Towns 

States are subdivided into counties, cities, and towns. 
A county is a division of a State set apart for the purpose 
of aiding in the carrying-on of the Judicial Branch of the 
Government. The officers elected in a county as a rule 
are. County Commissioners, Sheriff, Clerk of Courts, and 
Register of Deeds, etc. In cities, the Government is based 
upon a charter granted by the State Legislature. The prin- 
cipal officers are the Mayor, and City Council, and others, 
depending on the designations in the City Charter. 

A Town is a small community which governs itself through 
the '' Town Meeting," in which all voters are allowed to take 
part. The chief officers are called selectmen. 

THINGS TO BE DONE BY THE PROSPECTIVE VOTER 

1. He should be enrolled on the Assessors' List made up by 
the assessors of his city or town. 

2. He should be enrolled on the Voting List, which is made 
up from the Assessors' List by the Registrars of Voters. 

In order to get on this Voting List, the naturalized 
citizen must appear before the Registrars of Voters in 
his city or town, present his naturalization papers, and 
make oath that he is the person named therein. He will 
then be given a section of the Constitution to read, and 
be asked to sign his name in the registration book. 

After giving other information, such as age, weight, 
etc., he becomes a Qualified Voter. 

IMPORTANT FACTS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY 
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES 

1. George Washington, Virginia, 1789-1797. 

2. John Adams, Massachusetts, 1797-1801. 

3. Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, 1801-1809. 

4. James Madison, Virginia, 1809-1817. 



APPENDIX 167 

5. James Monroe, Virginia, 1817-1825. 

6. John Quincy Adams, Massachusetts, 1825-1829. 

7. Andrew Jackson, Tennessee, 1829-1837. 

8. Martin Van Buren, New York, 1837-1841. 

9. Wilham H. Harrison, Ohio (one month in office), 1841. 

10. John Tyler, Virginia (balance of term), 1841-1845. 

11. James K. Polk, Tennessee, 1845-1849. 

12. Zachary Taylor, Louisiana (1 year and 4 months in office), 1849- 
1850. 

13. Millard Fillmore, New York (balance of term), 1850-1853. 

14. Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire, 1853-1857. 

15. James Buchanan, Pennsylvania, 1857-1861. 

16. Abraham Lincoln, lUinois (one term and 6 weeks), 1861-1865. 

17. Andrew Johnson, Tennessee (balance of term), 1865-1869. 

18. Ulysses S. Grant, Illinois, 1869-1877. 

19. Rutherford B. Hayes, Ohio, 1877-1881. 

20. James A. Garfield, Ohio (6 months 15 days in office), 1881. 

21. Chester A. Arthur, New York (3 years, 5 months, 15 days in office). 

1881-1885. 

22. Grover Cleveland, New York, 1885-1889. 

23. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, 1889-1893. 

24. Grover Cleveland, New York, 1893-1897. 

25. William McKinley, Ohio (one term and part of second), 1897-1901o 

26. Theodore Roosevelt, New York, 1901-1909. 

27. William H. Taft, Ohio, 1909-1913. 

28. Woodrow Wilson, New Jersey, 1913-1921. 

29. Warren G. Harding, 1921- 

THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 

New Hampshire New Jersey Virginia 

Massachusetts Pennsylvania North Carolina 

Rhode Island Delaware South Carolina 

Connecticut Maryland Georgia 
New York 

THE STATES IN THE UNITED STATES 

1. New Hampshire 8. Delaware 15. Kentucky 

2. Massachusetts 9. Maryland 16. Tennessee 

3. Rhode Island 10. Virginia 17. Ohio 

4. Connecticut 11. North Carolina 18. Louisiana 

5. New York 12. South Carolina 19. Indiana 

6. New Jersey 13. Georgia 20. Mississippi 

7. Pennsylvania 14. Vermont 21. Illinois 



168 



APPENDIX 



22. Alabama 

23. Maine 

24. Missouri 
^5. Arkansas 
5^0". Michigan 
27. Florida 
<^^. Texas 
%9. Iowa 

30. Wisconsin 



31. California 

32. Minnesota 

33. Oregon 

34. Kansas 

35. West Virginia 

36. Nevada 

37. Nebraska 

38. Colorado 

39. North Dakota 



40. South Dakota 

41. Montana 

42. Washington 

43. Idaho 

44. Wyoming 

45. Utah 

46. Oklahoma 

47. New Mexico 

48. Arizona 



TERRITORIES and INSULAR POSSESSIONS 



District of Columbia 

Alaska 

Hawaii 

Porto Rico 

Philippine Islands 



Guam 

Tutuila Group, Samoa 
Wake Island 
Panama Canal Zone 
Virgin Islands 



II. PREPARATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 

A RECOMMENDED COURSE OF READING 

English for Foreigners. By Sara R. O'Brien. In two 
books. 

In Book One, which is designed for beginners, per- 
sonal habits and the common occupations of home are 
made the basis of numerous lessons. There are also 
exercises in penmanship, especially on difficult combina- 
tions of letters. Later, business forms, the scope of the 
various departments of the government, and the duties 
of citizenship are carefully explained. 

Book Two is prepared for pupils who have already 
acquired some knowledge of oral and written English. 
The reading lessons are devoted to vital topics in geog- 
raphy, American history and government, the choice 
of a vocation, and the appreciation of ethical standards 
which make for a truer and better understanding of life. 
Civics for New Americans. By Mabel Hill and Philip 
Davis. 



APPENDIX 169 

Representative Cities of the United States. By Caroline 
W. Hotchkiss. 

Each of the cities described is the center of the indus- 
tries and life of a section. After reading this book, one 
will understand why and how the location of certain 
cities has advanced their development, and that places 
far separated may have interests in common. 
A History of the United States. By Reuben Gold 
Thwaites and Calvin Noyes Kendall. 

This book recounts the essential facts and events in 
United States history. The evolution of the country 
from the earliest explorations and discoveries to the 
present industrial development is clearly traced. 
The Constitution of the United States. 

The text of the Constitution and an outline for its 
study are included in the appendix of Thwaites and 
Kendall's History of the United States. 
Preparing for Citizenship. By William B. Guitteau. 

This book gives in simple language a very clear 
explanation of how and why governments are formed, 
what government does for the citizen, and what the 
citizen owes to his government. All necessary facts re- 
garding local, state, and national government are given, 
with the main emphasis upon the practical aspects of 
government. The book concludes with an inspiring ex- 
pression of our national ideals of self-reliance, equality 
of opportunity, education for all, and the promotion of 
international peace. 

Manual of Parliamentary Practice. By Luther Stearns 
Gushing. 

This manual presents the "rules of order" usually 
followed by deliberative bodies. 



Other books which may profitably be read in connection 
with this course — although they do not form an essential 
part of it : - — 



170 APPENDIX 

American Hero Stories. By Eva March Tappan. 
An Elementary History of Our Country, By Eva March 
Tappan. 

This book is much briefer and simpler than the his- 
tory by Thwaites and Kendall. In it is printed the 
Declaration of Independence. 
The Story oj Christopher Columbus. By Charles W. Moores. 
George Washington. By Horace E. Scudder. 

Washington's " Farewell Address to the American 
People" is a speech with which all citizens should be 
familiar. 
The Life of Abraham Lincoln. By Charles W. Moores. 

Lincoln's " Address at Gettysburg " is the most famous 
American oration. All citizens should know it by heart. 
Government and Politics in the United States. By William 
B. Guitteau. 

This is a longer and more detailed account of our gov- 
ernment than is given in Preparing for Citizenship. 

III. A CLUB CONSTITUTION 

On page 96 of this book reference is made to the great 
benefits to be obtained through membership in a self-govern- 
ing club. The following ''Model Constitution" will prove 
helpful to any group of New Americans desiring to organize 
such a club : — 

MODEL CONSTITUTION FOR NEW AMERICAN CLUBS 
Article 1 
Sec 1. The name of this club shall be the New American 
Club. 

Sec 2. The object of this club shall be the study and 
discussion of the rights and duties of American citizens. 

Sec 3. While meeting in the Civic Service House the 
club and members shall be subject to the rules of the house. 



APPENDIX 171 

Article 2 
Sec. 1. The admission of members to this club shall be 
determined by a majority vote of the regular members pres- 
ent at the meeting. 

Sec. 2. Candidates must be proposed by a member at 
a regular meeting. 

Article 3 
Sec. 1. The officers of this club shall be: — 

1. President. 

2. Vice-President. 

3. Recording Secretary. 

4. Financial Secretary. 

5. Treasurer. 

6. Executive Board. 

7. Sergeant-at-Arms. 

Sec 2. Officers of this club shall be elected quarterly. 

Sec 3. The duties of the president shall be to preside 
at all business meetings and perform all the duties con- 
nected with that office. The vice-president is to preside 
whenever the president is absent. He shall also act as 
chairman at special meetings. 

The duties of the other officers shall be such as usually 
appertain to these positions in other associations. 

Sec 4. The order of business shall be: — 

1. Minutes. 

2. Roll-call. 

3. Old business. 

4. Reports of committees and delegates. 

5. New business. 

Article 4 
Sec 1. Meetings shall be held every other Sunday, at 
3.30 P.M. 

Sec 2. The dues shall be twenty cents per month. 



172 APPENDIX 

Sec. 3. The expenses of the committees appointed at 
regular meetings shall be paid by the club. 

Sec. 4. This constitution may be amended by a fi^o-</^irc?5 
vote by the members of the club. 

Article 5 

Sec. 1. Any member who is absent three meetings in 
succession, shall be notified by the Financial Secretary to 
prepare a satisfactory explanation of the cause of the ab- 
sence to the Financial Secretary. If he fails to appear at the 
next meeting he is thereby suspended from the club. 

Sec 2. The re-admittance of suspended members shall 
be decided by a majority vote present at a stated meeting. 

IV. FORM OF A PETITION 

In most States, only day sessions of the courts having 
jurisdiction over naturalization are held. It will be readily 
appreciated, however, that night sessions — which have 
been legalized in certain States — would prove a great con- 
venience not only to applicants for naturalization, but also 
to their witnesses. It is possible that a movement toward 
this end may commend itself to more than a few clubs of 
New Americans; and the appended blank form for a peti- 
tion will, in that event, be found useful. The same form, 
of course, with the necessary verbal changes, will serve as a 
model for any petition that any group of people may choose 
to present to any authority. The text of this book makes 
several allusions to movements which may be effectively 
instituted through the medium of a petition : — 



APPENDIX 



173 



UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS 

In the matter of Petition for the holding 
of NaturaUzation Sittings during the evening. 



PETITION 

To the Honorable District Court of the United States, for the District of 
Massachusetts, 

Your petitioners respectfully represent that the need of night sessions 
of this Court for naturalization purposes is great and growing. The sub- 
stantive requirements for citizenship are severe enough without placing 
the additional burden upon the prospective citizens of causing a loss of 
wages during working hours to himself and the witnesses needed to prove 
his residence and personal qualifications. 

The extent of the difficulties in the way of obtaining final naturalization 
is apparent from the fact that of all those who make a "Declaration of 
Intention" and pay the fee, only about one sixth are admitted finally to 
citizenship. This is a condition greatly to be deplored by all, and your 
petitioners believe that it can be remedied largely through the holding of 
night sessions of this Court during hours when neither the applicant nor 
his witnesses will suffer the possible loss of their positions or wages in 
order to be present. 

Wherefore, your petitioners pray that night sessions of this Court be 
held for purposes of naturalization during such hours as may be deemed 
expedient in conformity with the foregoing. 



NAME 


STREET, NUMBER 


CITY 


STATE 











































































174 APPENDIX 



V. A FINAL WORD TO NEW AMERICANS 

AN EXCERPT FROM PRESIDENT WILSON'S SPEECH BEFORE 

FOUR THOUSAND NEWLY NATURALIZED CITIZENS, 

IN PHILADELPHIA, MAY 10, 1915 

You have just taken an oath of allegiance to the United 
States. Of allegiance to whom? Of allegiance to no one, 
unless it be to God. Certainly not of allegiance to those 
who temporarily represent this great Government. You 
have taken an oath of allegiance to a great ideal, to a great 
body of principles, to a great hope of the human race. You 
have said, ''We are going to America," not only to earn a 
living, not only to seek the things which it was more diffi- 
cult to obtain where you were born, but to help forward the 
great enterprises of the human spirit — to let men know 
that everywhere in the world there are men who will cross 
strange oceans and go where a speech is spoken which is 
alien to them, knowing that, whatever the speech, there is 
but one longing and utterance of the human heart, and that 
is for liberty and justice. 

And while you bring all countries with you, you come 
with a purpose of leaving all other countries behind you — 
bringing what is best of their spirit, but not looking over 
your shoulders and seeking to perpetuate what you intended 
to leave in them. I certainly would not be one even to sug- 
gest that a man cease to love the home of his birth and the 
nation of his origin — these things are very sacred and ought 
not to be put out of our hearts; but it is one thing to love the 
place where you were born and it is another thing to dedi- 
cate yourself to the place to which you go. You cannot dedi- 
cate yourself to America unless you become in every respect 
and with every purpose of your will thorough Americans. . . . 

It is a very interesting circumstance to me, in thinking 
of those of you who have just sworn allegiance to this 



APPENDIX 175 

great Government, that you were drawn across the ocean 
by some beckoning finger of hope, by some belief, by some 
vision of a new kind of justice, by some expectation of a 
better kind of life. 

No doubt you have been disappointed in some of us; 
some of us are very disappointing. No doubt you have 
found that justice in the United States goes only with a pure 
heart and a right purpose, as it does everywhere else in the 
world. No doubt what you found here did n't seem touched 
for you, after all, with the complete beauty of the ideal 
which you had conceived beforehand. 

But remember this, if we had grown at all poor in the 
ideal, you brought some of it with you. A man does not go 
out to seek the thing that is not in him. A man does not 
hope for the thing that he does not believe in, and if some 
of us have forgotten what America believed in, you, at any 
rate, imported in your own hearts a renewal of the belief. 
That is the reason that I, for one, make you welcome. . . . 

So, if you come into this great nation as you have come, 
voluntarily seeking something that we have to give, all that 
we have to give is this : We cannot exempt you from work. 
No man is exempt from work anywhere in the world. I 
sometimes think he is fortunate if he has to work only with 
his hands and not with his head. It is very easy to do what 
other people give you to do, but it is very difficult to give 
other people things to do. We cannot exempt you from 
work; we cannot exempt you from the strife and the heart- 
breaking burden of the struggle of the day — that is com- 
mon to mankind everywhere. We cannot exempt you from 
the loads that you must carry; we can only make them light 
by the spirit in which they are carried. That is the spirit 
of hope, it is the spirit of liberty, it is the spirit of justice. 



176 APPENDIX 



VI. TWO NATIONAL ANTHEMS 

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 

In 1813, the United States and Great Britain were at war. A fleet of British 
warships v/as sent to attack Fort McHenry, near Baltimore. On the day before the 
bombardment, Francis Scott Key, a Baltimore gentleman, was visiting the British 
fleet in the harbor, to arrange for an exchange of prisoners. He was not permitted to 
leave for home during the bombardment, which lasted throughout the whole night. 
From the deck of one of the vessels he watched anxiously, hour after hour, fearing 
that the flag of Fort McHenry might be hauled down in token of surrender. His 
great joy at seeing the "Stars and Stripes" still floating triumphantly at the dawn 
of the new day, was expressed in a thrilling song. The Star-Spangled Banner, which 
he wrote on the back of a letter. A few hours later it was sung in public by an actor 
in the city. Within a few weeks Americans everywhere were familiar with the verses. 
The song is now generally recognized as our most distinctive national anthem. 
Every one should become familiar with the music, which is frequently played at 
public gatherings. The audience should stand while it is being played. 

O SAY, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleam- 
ing— ^ 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of 
the fight. 
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming! 
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air. 
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; 
O ! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave? 

On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep. 
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes. 
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, 

As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses? 
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, 
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream; 
'T is the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave! 



APPENDIX 17^ 

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore 

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion 
A home and a country should leave us no more? 

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. 
No refuge could save the hireling and slave 
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave; 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. 

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! 
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land 
Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a 
nation. 
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. 
And this be our motto — ''In God is our trust ": 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. 

Francis Scott KeYo 



178 APPENDIX 



AMERICA 



My country, 't is of thee. 
Sweet land of liberty. 

Of thee I sing; 
Land where my fathers died. 
Land of the pilgrims' pride. 
From every mountain-side 

Let freedom ring. 

My native country, thee. 
Land of the noble free, — 

Thy name I love; 
I love thy rocks and rills, 
Thy woods and templed hills; 
My heart with rapture thrills 

Like that above. 

Let music swell the breeze. 
And ring from all the trees. 

Sweet freedom's song; 
Let mortal tongues awake, 
Let all that breathe partake. 
Let rocks their silence break, — 

The sound prolong. 

Our fathers' God, to Thee, 
Author of liberty. 

To Thee I sing; 
Long may our land be bright 
With freedom's holy light; 
Protect us by thy might. 

Great God our King. 

Samuel Francis SmitHc 



ENGLISH FOR FOREIGNERS 

By SARA R. O'BRIEN 

Teacher in the day and evening schools of Springfield, Mass. 

BOOK ONE. With Preface by Thomas M. Balliet, Dean of 

New York University School of Pedagogy. 
BOOK TWO 

These textbooks have been written for the specific purpose 
of giving foreigners in as short a time as possible a practical 
working knowledge of the English language. 

AMERICANIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP 

By HANSON HART WEBSTER 

This book opens with a careful explanation of the process 
of naturalization; but its chief object is to arouse every man of 
foreign birth to admiration for Am^erican ideals and achieve- 
ments, and to stir him with a determination to earn the 
privileges of American citizenship. 

CIVICS FOR NEW AMERICANS 

By MABEL HILL 

Instructor in History and Civics, Post Graduate Deparimeiit 
Dana Hall School, We lies ley, Mass. 

and PHILIP DAVIS 

Recently Director of the Civic Service House ^ Boston^ Mass. 

This book gives just the information that the immigrant 
needs to fit him to succeed in this country. The text is sim- 
ple, and can be understood by those who can read easy 
English. 

FIRST STEPS IN AMERICANIZATION 

By JOHN J. MAHONEY 

Principal State Normal School, Lowell, Mass. 

and CHARLES M. HERLIHY 

Assisiajit Superintendent of Schools a7id Director of Evefting Schools 
Cambridge, Mass. 

The book gives the teacher of immigrants a knowledge of 

the important aims in her work — namely, (i) What she "is to 

teach. (2) How she is to teach. (3) What standards oi 
achievement she may expect. 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

XQ22 



Books on Patriotic Subjects 

I AM AN AMERICAN 

By Sara Cone Bryant (Mrs. Theodore F. Borst). 

*' Americanism," says Mrs. Borst, '^needs to be taught as definitely 
as do geography and arithmetic. The grade teachers are doing 
splendid work for patriotism, with songs and recitations, story- 
telling, and talks on civic virtues. I have tried to give them some- 
thing more definite and coordinated, something that will serve as a 
real textbook on 'Being an American.'" 

STORIES OF PATRIOTISM. 

Edited by Norma H. Deming and Katharine I. Bemis. 

A series of stirring tales of patriotic deeds by Americans from the 
time of the colonists to the present. There are also stories about 
famous heroes of our Allies in the Great War. 

THE PATRIOTIC READER* 

Edited by Katharine I. Bemis, Mathilde E. Holtz, and Henry L. 

Smith. 

The selections cover the history of our country from Colonial 
times. A distinguishing feature is the freshness of material and the 
admirable arrangement. The book gives one a familiarity with 
literature that presents the highest ideals of freedom, justice, and 
liberty. 

THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG* 

By Eva March Tappan. 

In her own entertaining style, Miss Tappan has written the story 
of Our Flag. She tells children how to behave toward the flag in a 
fashion that makes such behavior a sacred duty. There are selec- 
tions for Reading and Memorizing. 

A COURSE IN CITIZENSHIP AND PATRIOTISM* 

Edited by E. L. Cabot, F. F. Andrews, F. E. Coe, M. Hill, and M. 
McSkimmon. 

Good citizenship grows out of love of country and in turn pro- 
motes the spirit of internationahsm. This book teaches how to de- 
velop these qualities most effectually. 

AMERICANIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP. 

By Hanson Hart Webster. 

*' Well calculated to inculcate love for America, especially among 
the foreign born. This is to be desired at this time more than ever 
before." — His Eminence, James Cardinal Gibbons. 



HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

1932 



THE WOODS HUTCHINSON 
HEALTH SERIES 

{Revised Edition) 
BY WOODS HUTCHINSON, M.D. 

An ideal course in physiology and hygiene for elementary schools by a 
writer of international reputation as physician, teacher, and author. It com- 
prises three books, for Grades III-VIII inclusive, throughout which the 
emphasis is placed upon the formation of health habits — for the sake not 
only of the individual^ hut also of the community. 

The 1920 Edition of this standard series has been revised to date. Each 
book contains a new chapter upon important topics, with new exercises, 
and the latest statistics. They are wholly authoritative, based upon present- 
day facts, theories, and figures. 

THE CHILD'S DAY. For Grades HI and IV. 

This book describes a typical day in the hfe of a child, telling him how 
to eat, sleep^ work, rest, and play. The pleasing style of the text, the fa- 
miliar material v^ith which it deals, the numerous illustrative anecdotes, ail 
contribute to m.ake it exceedingly attractive to the pupil. Just enough 
physiology is interwoven to show the reasons why good habits lead to 
health. 

COMMUNITY HYGIENE. For Grades V and VI. 

With the awakening of the social conscience, we are beginning to realize 
that the concern for health involves more than the individual. It is a com- 
munity problem, and children cannot be taught too early to cooperate with 
one another, with parent and teacher, and with the community at large, for 
the promotion of public health. Community Hygiene is a series of plain, 
common-sense talks to children on how the home, the school, and the com- 
munity cooperate to make them strong, healthy, useful citizens. 

A HANDBOOK OF HEALTH. For Grades VI, VII, VIII. 

Presents in language within the comprehension of the boy and girl the 
best information and advice of the medical profession for a proper under- 
standing of our bodies and the best way to run them efficiently. Over two 
thirds of the text is devoted to hygiene and sanitation, with a minimum 
treatment of anatomy and physiology. The subject of food, as fundamental 
to health, is especially treated. 



HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 



GEOGRAPHICAL READERS 

Home Life Around the World. 

By George A. Mirick. With illustrations from photographs by 
Burton Holmes. 

The Twins Series of Geographical Readers. 

By Lucy Fitch Perkins. Illustrated by the author. 

The Dutch Twins Primer. — The Eskimo Twins. — The 
Dutch Twins. — The Japanese Twins. — The Irish Twins. — « 
The Mexican Twins. — The Belgian Twins. — The French 
Twins. — The Italian Twins. — The Scotch Twins. 

Representative Cities of the United States. 

By Caroline W. Hotchkiss. Grades VII and VIII. Illus- 
trated. 

The British Isles. 

Bv Everett T. Tomlinson. Grades VII and VIII. Illustrated 



INDUSTRIAL READERS 

America at Work. 

By Joseph Husband, 

The Industrial Readers. 

By Eva March Tappan. Illustrated. 

The Farmer and His Friends. — Diggers in the Earth.— 
Makers of Many Things. — Travelers and Traveling. 

HISTORICAL READERS 

The Twins Series of Historical Readers. 

By Lucy Fitch Perkins. Illustrated by the author. 
The Cave Twins. — The Spartan Twins. — The Puritan 
Twins. 

History Readers. 

By Eva March Tappan. Illustrated. 

The Story of the Greek People. — The Story of the Romau 
People. — Old World Hero Stones. — Our European Ances 
tors. — Letters from Colonial Children. — American Here 
Stories. — The Little Book of the War. 



Heroes Every Child Should Know. 

Edited by Hamilton Wright Mabie. Illustrated. 

Dramatized Scenes from American History. 

By Augusta Stevenson. Grades VI-VIII. Illustrated 



HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 



